EP1603675A1

EP1603675A1 - Laboratory equipment having drain grooves on a worktop

Info

Publication number: EP1603675A1
Application number: EP04720836A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Thomas Maetzke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-03-26
Filing date: 2004-03-16
Publication date: 2005-12-14
Anticipated expiration: 2024-03-16
Also published as: WO2004085066A1; EP1603675B1; CH696232A5; DE502004002235D1; ATE347445T1; US20060150317A1

Abstract

Laboratory equipment comprises at least one worktop having at least one drain channel, the at least one worktop having a plurality of drain grooves provided on its surface which grooves are linked with a liquid container and at least a refuse tank via the at least one drain channel. The drain grooves are preferably distributed across the surface and arranged in a manner as to give a segmented subdivision for the at least one worktop.

Description

LABORATORY WITH DEFLECTION GRILLS ON WORKTOP

The invention relates to a laboratory device according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

Such a laboratory device is used, for example, to operate a preparative high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) system in which, for example, flow rates of up to 100 ml / min and more usually occur in the research laboratory. The liquids used are usually volatile organic solvents which can be toxic and explosive.

It is known from Japanese Patent Abstracts of Japan, Publication No. 01 1 19 347 A, for a countertop for a laboratory bench which consists of individual interconnected panel parts.

From EP 0 233 803 A1, a laboratory bench with a channel is known, through which electrical connection cables and system lines are routed.

In AU 39 831/93 B a laboratory device is described, which has three connected service towers, wherein at least one movable table extends adjacent to a side edge of the towers connecting substructure.

From EP 1 106 254 A2 a device for the disposal of liquid waste at a laboratory workstation is known. This device comprises a receptacle associated with the laboratory workstation and / or laboratory bench and having an inlet for the waste, a suction port and a venting port. Furthermore, this device has arranged on a carriage collecting container.

In the supply and workplace device known from DE 202 14 490 U1, a laboratory table is provided, which is designed to be mobile and has a work surface and a storage space. Furthermore, a supply device is provided in this device, which is housed in the storage space of the laboratory table. A laboratory device according to the preamble of claim 1 is known for example from US 3,041,957. In this device, the work surface has a basin-like drain, which is connected to a waste container. The waste container is housed in a cabinet-like substructure of the mobile, designed as a car laboratory table. On the work surface there is a discharge hood which is connected to an exhaust air system, which is partly guided by the substructure of the mobile laboratory table.

Problems can always occur in the aforementioned prior art when a liquid, in particular an organic solvent, spills or overflows on the work surface.

The invention has for its object to provide a laboratory device of the type mentioned, which is safer to handle.

This object is achieved indungsgemäss by a laboratory device with the features of claim 1.

Advantageous developments are the subject of the dependent claims.

The at least one working surface of the laboratory device according to the invention has a plurality of drainage grooves provided on its surface, which are connected to the at least one drain. As a result, any leaking solvent can not spread over the entire work surface, but only to the next drainage channel. Thus, the safety of the laboratory equipment according to the invention is considerably increased, since the outflowing or overflowing solvent is partly very volatile and toxic. If the solvent could spread over a larger area, more solvent would evaporate. However, because it flows into the grooves, it can only spread over a relatively limited area of the work surface.

Advantageously, the drainage channels are designed and arranged distributed over the surface in such a way that a segment-like division results for the at least one working surface, wherein the drainage grooves are preferably also provided on the edge of the at least one working surface. As already indicated above, so out or overflowing solvent ultimately only over a segment of Spread working surface, which is separated by drain grooves from the next segment. An enclosing drainage groove on the edge of the respective working surface also prevents the solvent from passing over the working surface edge, for example over a table edge, so that no solvent can leave the working surface and drip down. The effluent solvent thus enters the area of the Abflussrilllen relatively soon, where it can flow off in a controlled manner. As a result, less solvent will evaporate, which improves safety in the laboratory.

According to a development of the invention, the at least one drain is located approximately in the middle of the at least one working surface, wherein a drain preferably made of Teflon drain pipe is connected to the at least one drain, which preferably below the at least one working surface to the rear, then vertically downwards and led to a waste container. The outflowing liquid, which, as mentioned above, in the applications mainly of interest here is usually an organic solvent, therefore passes quickly through the drainage channels and the at least one drain into a closed space, so that as little solvent as possible flows into the atmospheric environment of the laboratory device g can manage. It is possible to use the storage space underneath the work surface by moving it backwards and then vertically downwards. As a result, the laboratory device according to the invention can additionally be designed to be extremely compact.

According to a development of the invention, several drains per work surface are preferably each about in the middle and at the rear edge of the work surface. In the at least one working surface from the center to the rear, internal drainage holes lead the solvent running in the horizontal direction to the rear. The outflows to these drainage holes are preferably located at the intersection points of the drainage grooves with the drainage holes in the at least one working surface. At the rear edge of the at least one working surface, the bores are drilled with a common rail passing from an ornate plastic, such as plastic. Teflon, which is connected via a vertically downwardly extending drain line to the waste container. According to a particularly preferred development, the drainage channels are inclined towards the at least one outlet. As a result, the liquid present in the drainage channels does not have a shorter residence time, so that only little time is available for evaporating the liquid. Rather, the liquid flows off quickly and can be collected in the aforementioned waste container.

According to another embodiment of the invention is located below the at least one working surface, a ventilated laboratory cabinet for liquid containers, preferably solvent containers, wherein the laboratory cabinet is preferably made of non-combustible material and has a grounded ground made of stainless steel. This is also another source of solvent vapors, namely the area in which, for example, the waste container is located ventilated, i. connected to an exhaust air system. This refinement thus also improves the safety of the laboratory equipment according to the invention, since explosive vapors or gases are less easily formed in the stated range. Analogous versions also apply to toxic gases or vapors.

Advantageously, a discharge hood is provided on the at least one working surface. This makes it possible to connect another source of solvent vapors to the exhaust air system. It is clear that the exhaust ducts of the aforementioned laboratory cabinet or the cabinets for solvent containers can be merged with those of the exhaust hood, so that ultimately only one exhaust system with multiple branches is required.

According to an advantageous development, a safety device is additionally provided, which triggers an alarm in the case of a liquid flowing out through the drainage grooves. As mentioned above, the liquid may in particular be an organic solvent. The triggering of an alarm can interrupt, for example, the entire power supply of the laboratory device, so that thereby possibly a threatening uncontrolled L ösungsmittelaustritt v prevented i st. It is also possible to operate completely automatically with the laboratory equipment in question. This is therefore a leak-proof platform on which systems can work in a state without human supervision, since the monitoring is performed electronically, for example, automatically. With this development, it is thus achieved that larger amounts of, for example, explosive solvents In the first place, vapor vapors can not form or accumulate, since the evaporation of larger amounts is already prevented.

In another embodiment of the invention, the at least one work surface is part of a mobile laboratory cart, which preferably has an upper and a lower work surface and a lower floor in the form of, for example, a low-lying support structure for receiving the laboratory cabinet. Such a laboratory device is therefore extremely mobile and accessible from all sides. It can improve occupational safety where this is necessary in the case of locally changing workplaces. By providing the subfloor in the form of a special, low-lying supporting structure for accommodating one or more cabinets for solvent containers, it is arranged as close to the floor as possible, so that these containers are generally not completely lifted, but merely tilted. to then be pushed into the cabinet structure. As a result, the accessibility of the liquid - in particular solvent container is improved and their handling easier.

Preferably, the at least one working surface is composed of a plurality of advantageously three partial surfaces, each partial surface preferably having at least one outflow and a plurality of drainage grooves. The parts of a work surface can thus be more easily transported to the construction site of the laboratory cart.

Embodiments of the subject invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, wherein all described and / or illustrated features alone or in any combination form the subject matter of the present invention u nabhängig of their Z u sammenfassung in the A nsprüchen or their dependency. Show it:

Fig. 1 is a schematic, front perspective view of a laboratory device;

Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of a part of the laboratory equipment;

Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of a part of the laboratory device;

Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view of a working surface of the laboratory device; and 5 shows a schematic section along the line VV in Fig. 4th

In Fig. 1 is a schematic front view of a laboratory device 1 is shown schematically. In general, the laboratory device 1 has at least one working surface 3 having at least one drain 2. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the at least one working surface 3 is part of a mobile laboratory cart 4, which has an upper working surface 3 and a lower working surface 5 arranged underneath Underbody 6 has in the form of a low-lying support structure.

Advantageously, the upper and / or the lower working surface 3, 5 each divided into sub-surfaces 27 for ease of transport, each sub-surface 27 may have one or more outflows 2 and a surrounding drainage groove 10, so that no solvent can fall beyond a partial area addition. An embodiment with three partial surfaces 27 is shown schematically in FIG. 4, wherein each partial surface 27 has four segment-like subdivisions 11.

On the upper work surface 3, detectors such as e.g. Mass spectrometer or UV spectrometer, as well as chromatography columns or a discharge hood 7, as shown in Fig. 1, be positioned below which sampler or fraction collector can be arranged. On the underlying, lower working surface 5 is insofar a second device level, in which preferably pumps or flat components of the system, such as a safety device 22 explained below, can be accommodated.

According to the invention, the at least one working surface 3 has a plurality of drainage grooves 9, 10 provided on its surface 8, which are connected to the at least one drain 2. According to FIG. 1, the drainage grooves 9 run transversely to the longitudinal axis of the laboratory cart 4, while the drainage grooves 10 extend according to FIG. 3 in the longitudinal direction of the laboratory cart. The latter are omitted in Fig. 1 for the sake of clarity.

2, two work surfaces 3, 5 arranged one above the other and parallel to one another are provided, ie, at least one of the work surfaces that are in each case connected to the at least one outflow 2, 9, 10. From FIG. 1 and particularly advantageously from FIG. 3, which shows a schematic plan view of the laboratory device 1, it can be seen that the drainage grooves 9, 10 are designed and arranged distributed over the surface 8 such that for the work surfaces 3, 5 each results in a previously mentioned in the sub-areas 27 segmental subdivision 11. The drainage grooves 9, 10 are also provided on the edge 26 of each work surface 3, 5, as can be seen from FIG. 3; Here they form a groove enclosing the respective working area.

The drains 2 are according to a first embodiment in the middle or approximately in the middle of each working surface 3, 5 and are indicated in Fig. 1 only schematically. With the respective outflow 2, a drain line 12 (see FIG. 2) is connected, which is preferably made of Teflon. Each drain line 12 is guided below the respective working surface 3, 5 to the rear, then vertically downwards and to a in Fig. 2 schematically indicated waste container 13. FIG. 2 shows a schematic, partial front view of the laboratory device 1.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one working surface 3, 5 has a plurality of outflows 2, which are preferably arranged in each outflow groove 9 running transversely to the longitudinal axis of the at least one working surface 3, 5 and in the rearmost flow-off groove 10. In addition, the at least one working surface in its interior preferably has a plurality of drain holes 28 extending horizontally to the rear, connected to the at least one drain 2 of a drainage groove 9, 10. These drainage bores 28 are horizontal in the working surface 3, 5 and extend horizontally to the rear the drain or drains 2 at or near intersection points 29 of the respective drainage bore 28 with the drainage grooves 9 preferably approximately in the middle and the rearmost drainage groove 10. For the sake of clarity, only one drainage bore 28 is schematically indicated in FIG. The drainage holes 28 are connected internally to the edge 30 of the working surface with a horizontally extending collecting line (not shown), which is connected to the waste container via a discharge conduit (see FIG. All lines are preferably made of Teflon.

A section along the line VV in Fig. 4 is shown schematically in Fig. 5. This figure illustrates that the drainage hole 28 embedded in the respective working surface 3, 5 and extends within this. The drainage hole 28 is connected via outlets 2 with the drainage grooves 9, 10 in connection. At the rear edge 30 of the work surface 3, 5 is an angular connection piece 31 is provided and screwed into the drainage hole 28, for example. The free end of this connection piece 31 is connected to the not shown s ummelleitung and ie in FIG. 2 d argestellt drain line 12 connected.

As shown in more detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, the connecting piece 31 is located in a recess 32 at the rear edge 30 of the respective working surface 3, 5. Thus, each connector 31 is housed well protected. It is clear that each work surface 3, 5 and also each partial surface 27 of the relevant work surface can have one or more internal drainage holes 28.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the drainage grooves 9, 10 are inclined to the respective outflow 2 and approximately horizontally draining drain lines 12 to the waste container 13. This can be done, for example, by the fact that the plate of the working surface is slightly bulged apart from its surface 8, wherein at the hole for the drain 2 is the lowest point. It is also possible that the entire surface 8 of the respective working surface 3, 5 including the drainage groove 9, 10 is slightly inclined to the respective outflow 2. It is also possible that the drainage channels are formed deeper becoming drain points. Each work surface 3, 5 may for example be a polypropylene plate.

Thus, a running in the drainage groove 9, 10 liquid, such. As a solvent, easily and quickly flow out of the various drainage channels to the drain 2 out.

Below the at least one working surface 3, ie in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, below the lower working surface 5, b is found in the left part of the laboratory cart 4 a ventilated laboratory cabinet 14 for liquid containers 15, preferably solvent containers. Usually, one of the liquid containers 15 is the aforementioned waste container 13. The laboratory cabinet 14 is made of non-combustible material and has a grounded bottom 16 made of stainless steel sheet. This reduces the risk of electrostatic charging. In Fig. 1, the drain lines 12, which extend from the respective outlet 2 in the cabinet 14 to the respective liquid container 15, omitted for the sake of clarity. The laboratory cabinet 14 has two front-opening doors 17, 18 on, wherein the right door 18 is lockable with a lock 19. In addition to the ventilated laboratory cabinet 14 further storage space is available on the subfloor 6 in the form of the low-lying support structure, in which case, for example, another cabinet for receiving liquid containers can be mounted.

As mentioned above, the exhaust hood 7 is provided on the left half of the upper work surface 3, which can be provided via a feed opening 20 with the various sample and fraction carriers. Instead of a loading opening, the extraction hood can also have an upwardly slidable front window. On the right and left side in FIG. 1 as well as the rear side of the discharge hood 7, a sliding door 21 is provided which also allows access to the inside of the extraction hood. It is clear that both the extraction hood 7 and the ventilated laboratory cabinet 14 are connected to a not shown exhaust system.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the laboratory device 1 may contain the previously mentioned safety device 22, which is indicated only by dashed lines in FIG. 1. The safety device is designed such that it triggers an alarm in the case of a liquid flowing out through the drainage grooves 9, 10. In the alarm state, the safety device 22 can interrupt, for example, the entire power supply of the laboratory device 1 and thus prevent further liquid from flowing out and through the drainage channels 9, 10 and the drain lines 12.

As shown in Fig. 1, the laboratory cart 4 has ultimately three levels, namely the upper working surface 3, including the lower working surface 5 and finally including the below the upper edges of the wheels 23 arranged subfloor 6 in the form of low-lying support structure for ventilated laboratory cabinets. The support structure is open towards the front, so that the or the laboratory cabinets 14 tilted slightly forward with its trailing edge placed on the support structure and then can be pushed into the support structure without complete lifting into it. Equivalent embodiments for the liquid container 1 5 are based on the respective laboratory cabinet 14 arranged on the underbody 6. The two working surfaces 3, 5 are also at their edge 26 with the inventive drainage grooves 9 , 10 provided. In the schematic front view according to FIG. 2, the laboratory device 1 is only partly shown in comparison to the embodiment shown in FIG. The cabinet 14 and the hood 7 are omitted, for example. The drain lines 12 each extend from the drain 2 through each work surface 3, 5, as mentioned, first below the respective working surface to the rear and then down and finally open via a common line 24 in the liquid container 15, which here designed as a waste container 13 is. Instead of the downwardly extending below the respective working surface drain lines 12, as described above, in the working surface drilled drainage holes 28 are present, which open into a running at the rear edge 30 of the working surface manifold, which connected via a downwardly leading drain line 12 to the waste container is.

In the plan view of the laboratory device 1 according to FIG. 3, the exhaust hood 7 is indicated only by dashed lines. The drain grooves 9 and 10 extend around the individual segment-like subdivisions 11. The drain 2 is located at an intersection of the drain grooves 9 and 10. It is clear that several drains can also be provided on each work surface. The drainage grooves 9 and 10 and the segmental subdivisions 11 are also located in the region and in particular below the extraction hood 7, as indicated in phantom in FIG. 3, so that the safety device 22 (see FIG. 1) can also respond if a liquid in the region of the discharge hood 7 flows into one of the drainage grooves 9 or 10 and from there to the drain and via the drain lines 12 to the waste container 13 passes.

Fig. 3 can also be seen that are on the rear side of the work surface designed as a table top recesses 25, for example, for cables and wires.

From the above description, it follows that a liquid flowing out on one of the work surfaces 3, 5 can propagate only on the surface of a single segment-like partition 11, since it flows at the edge of each partition into one or more of the drainage grooves 9, 10. The liquid then flows via the drainage channels to the at least one drain 2 and from there, as mentioned, via drainage bores 28 and / or drainage lines 12 into the waste container 13. In this way, a liquid flowing out of the working surfaces can not be uncontrolled. spread, whereby the risk of formation of solvent vapors and / or explosive mixtures is greatly reduced.

Therefore, a laboratory device is created, which is safer to handle.

Claims

1. Laboratory device with at least one work surface (3, 5) having at least one drain (2), characterized in that the at least one work surface (3, 5) has a plurality of drain grooves (9, 10) provided on its surface (8) are connected to the at least one drain (2).

2. Laboratory device according to claim 1, characterized in that the drainage grooves (9, 10) are designed and arranged so distributed over the surface (8) that there is a segment-like division (11) for the at least one working surface (3, 5) The drainage grooves (9, 10) are preferably also provided on the edge (26) of the at least one work surface (3, 5).

3. Laboratory device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one drain (2) is located approximately in the middle of the at least one work surface (3, 5) and with the at least one drain (2) a drainage pipe preferably made of Teflon (12) is connected, which is preferably below the at least one work surface (3, 5) to the rear, then vertically downwards and to a waste container (13).

4. Laboratory device according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one work surface (3, 5) a plurality of drains (2), which preferably in each transverse to the longitudinal axis of the at least one work surface (3, 5) and in the drain groove rearmost drain groove (10) are arranged, and in its interior a plurality of horizontally backward drain holes (28) connected at least to the drains (2) of a drain groove (9, 10), preferably at the rear edge (30) of the at least one Work surface (3, 5) are connected to a horizontally extending collecting line made of Teflon, which is connected to the waste container (13) by a downward discharge line (12).

5. Laboratory device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drain grooves (9, 10) are inclined towards the at least one drain (2).

6. Laboratory device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that below the at least one work surface (3, 5) there is a ventilated laboratory cabinet (14) for liquid containers (15), preferably solvent containers.

7. Laboratory device according to claim 6, characterized in that the laboratory cabinet (14) is manufactured from non-combustible material and has a grounded base (16), preferably made of stainless steel sheet.

8. Laboratory device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a fume hood (7) is provided on the at least one working surface (3, 5).

9. Laboratory device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a safety device (22) is provided which triggers an alarm when a liquid flowing through the drainage grooves (9, 10).

10. Laboratory device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one working surface (3, 5) is part of a mobile laboratory trolley (4), which preferably has an upper and a lower working surface (3, 5) and a sub-floor (6) has in the form of a low-lying support structure for receiving the cabinet (14).

11. Laboratory device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one working surface (3, 5) is composed of several, preferably three, partial surfaces (27) and each partial surface (27) preferably at least one outflow (2) and several outflow grooves (9, 10).