EP3817858B1

EP3817858B1 - Protecting safety screen for a fume hood and fume hood incorporating the screen and method of use

Info

Publication number: EP3817858B1
Application number: EP19748955.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bruno Stancanelli
Original assignee: ASEM SRL
Current assignee: ASEM SRL
Priority date: 2018-07-03
Filing date: 2019-07-03
Publication date: 2021-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-03
Also published as: WO2020008378A1; EP3817858A1; IT201800006888A1

Description

Field of The Invention

The present invention generally finds application in the field of laboratory instruments and particularly relates to a protective safety screen for a fume hood, in particular for use in anatomic pathology.
In further aspects, the present invention relates to a laboratory fume hood incorporating such protective safety screen and a method of use of the same.

Background art

Fume hoods have been long known to be used in the field of chemical and biological laboratory equipment to extract harmful fumes produced by chemical and/or biological reactions conducted in a work chamber.
Fume hoods generally include a working space with a vertical front wall and a horizontal work surface closed by a protective safety screen that can be opened at the front for access to the compartment by the operator and that protects him/her from the fumes generated during chemical and/or biological reactions.
The toxic fumes produced in the working space of fume hoods are channeled by suction means toward a motor fan that discharges them to the outside, away from the work environment.
In anatomic pathology laboratories analysts and researchers must often move their head toward the working space, and sometimes at least partially introduce it therein, to have a closer look at the objects and equipment on the work surface, such as microscope slides and histological samples.
This practice does not comply with safety regulations, and entails considerable risks of contamination for the operator which may contact chemical and/or biological splashes and harmful fumes.
In an attempt to at least partially obviate this drawback, laboratory fume hoods have been developed, which have protective safety screens tilted relative to the horizontal work surface.
EP1356873 discloses a fume hood having a working space with a front wall and a horizontal work surface closed by a front protective safety screen that can be opened and closed by sliding from top to bottom and vice versa.
The protective safety screen is stationary and tilted relative to the vertical by a few degrees, for lighting fixtures to be positioned to illuminate the working space.
Nevertheless, the slight tilt of the screen prevents the user from looking at the work surface from the top and from introducing his/her head into the working space, whereby the operator is sometimes required to open the screen to move his/her head closer. This opening movement facilitates the creation of turbulence that is hazardous for an operator, without significantly reducing toxic fume emission from the front opening.
US5997397 , on which is based the preamble of claim 1, discloses a laboratory apparatus with a working table and a protective screen hanging from the top wall of a working space. In one embodiment, the protective screen is composed of two adjacent panels that can be moved between a hanging position and an upwardly folded position in which the two panels extend toward the interior of the working space into a flat horizontal state.

Technical Problem

In view of the prior art, the technical problem addressed by the present invention is to improve the function of a laboratory fume hood, in particular for anatomic pathology analysis and to enhance visibility of the work operations while maintaining safety conditions unchanged.

Disclosure of the invention

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problem, by providing a protective safety screen for a laboratory fume hood, a fume hood having a protective safety screen and a method of use the protective safety screen that is highly efficient and relatively cost-effective.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide a protective safety screen, a suction hood and a method of use of the protection safety screen as described above that allow operators to have a closer look at the objects and equipment therein while being protected from splashes and harmful fumes of chemical and/or biological nature.
A further particular object of the present invention is to provide a protective safety screen, a fume hood and a method of use of the protective safety screen as described above that might allow an operator to introduce his/her head toward the working area while remaining outside the working space.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a protective safety screen and an extraction hood as described above that allow adjustment of the position of the protective safety screen relative to the work surface as needed by the operator and the arrangement of the equipment and laboratory materials.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of operating the protective safety screen as described hereinbefore that can afford totally safe user operation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a fume hood as described above that has a very small size.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a protective safety screen for a fume hood as described hereinbefore which facilitates adjustment of the screen to the various positions relative to the front wall of the hood.
These and other objects, as more clearly explained hereafter, are fulfilled by a protective safety screen for a laboratory fume hood, in particular for anatomic pathology applications, as defined in claim 1, wherein the hood comprises a working space with a vertical front wall, a horizontal work surface and means for extracting fumes and other toxic vapors, wherein the screen comprises a pair of transparent panels, i.e. an upper panel and a lower panel respectively, having respective adjacent longitudinal edges, joined together by first hinge means, said adjacent longitudinal edges being adapted to rotate relative to each other about a substantially horizontal common axis.
The screen comprises a pivotal guide mechanism for guiding said panels in their rotational motion relative to each other about said common axis between an open/closed position in which said panels are substantially vertical, and a work position in which said panels are tilted relative to each other to form a hollow dihedral.
A first advantage of this screen structure is that, in the work position, the operator may introduce his/her head into the hollow dihedral toward the work surface while remaining outside the working space and have a closer look at the objects and equipment therein.
Another advantage consists in enhancing visibility of the work operations by an operator through the protective safety screen of the fume hood while ensuring safety from chemical and/or biological risk, due to protection from splashes and harmful fumes of chemical and/or biological nature.
In a further aspect, the invention relates to a laboratory fume hood, in particular for anatomic pathology applications, equipped with such protective safety screen, as defined in claim 9.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are obtained in accordance with the dependent claims.

Brief Description of The Drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, non-exclusive embodiment of a protective safety screen and a fume hood having such protective safety screen, which is described as a non-limiting example with the help of the annexed drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are front and side views respectively of the protective safety screen of the invention, in a vertical closed position;
FIGS. 3 and 4 are front and side views respectively of the protective safety screen of Fig. 1, in a vertically lifted position;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are front and side views respectively of the protective safety screen of Fig. 1, in a tilted position;
FIG. 7 shows an exemplary operation of the fume hood of Fig. 6.

Detailed description of a preferred exemplary embodiment

Particularly referring to the aforementioned figures, there is shown a protective safety screen, generally designated by numeral 1, for a laboratory fume hood.
The fume hood 2 may be placed in a room specially equipped for chemical and/or biological tests and is particularly designed for analysis and research in the field of anatomic pathology.
As shown in the figures, the fume hood 2 comprises a substantially box-like frame 2' preferably of a metal or composite material, protected by aggressive-agent resistant paints, and defining therein a working space 3 delimited by a vertical front wall 4, a top wall 5, a pair of side walls 6, a rear wall 7 and a substantially horizontal work surface 8.
The walls are adapted to delimit the working space 3 in which chemical and/or biological reactions are conducted.
The work surface 8 may support containers and laboratory equipment, adapted to be handled by an operator W, as well as specimens and slides for anatomic pathology analysis, whereas the walls may be equipped with devices useful for processing, such as lighting fixtures, faucets, cutting tools, gloves, manipulation devices and electrical sockets.
As is known, the hood 2 is equipped with means for extracting fumes and other toxic and/or harmful vapors, which have at least one extraction circuit in fluid communication with the working space 3 and comprising at least one motor fan connected to an intake manifold 9 located on the top wall 5 for drawing in the vapors and fumes in the working space 3.
The motor fan may be actuated to exhaust any fumes that are harmful for operators W and users passing through the equipped room out of the room.
In one embodiment, not shown, the extraction means may also comprise a plurality of suction openings formed on the work surface 8 or in the proximity of the latter for extracting toxic and/or harmful fumes, as disclosed in patent application EP2669586 owned by the Applicant hereof, whose content is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
As shown in FIG. 2, the protective safety screen 1 is placed at the substantially vertical front wall 4 and comprises a pair of transparent panels 10 which are designed to form an inner wall 12 that faces the working space 3 and an outer wall 12 that faces out of the fume hood 2, as well as substantially horizontal longitudinal edges 13, 14.
The pair of panels 10 may be movable and selectively operable by the operator W from a substantially vertical position for closing the compartment and a vertical lifted position in which the protective safety screen 1 defines a front opening 15 adapted to be accessed by the operator W and vice versa.
Advantageously, the opening 15 of the vertical front wall 4 of the working space 3 allows the operator to access the latter with his/her hands to carry out chemical and/or biological processing on the horizontal work surface 8.
The screen 1 will have the purpose to protect the operator W from any toxic vapors and/or generated by the chemical and/or biological reactions that are being conducted in the working space 3.
Conveniently, the protective safety screen 1 may be equipped with a rear balance weight, not shown, to allow the operator W to balance its movement and fix it in any intermediate position between the vertical position for closing the compartment 3 and the lifted position of the pair of panels 10 as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4.
Advantageously, as disclosed in EP26669586 , the protective safety screen 11 may be mechanically connected to a throttle valve via a tie-rod system having balance weights and pulleys and located in the tubular conduit to change the intake section according to the position of the protective safety screen 1.
Namely, when the protective safety screen 1 is in the vertical lifted position, the throttle valve will be in such a position that the tubular duct will have the maximum intake section.
Advantageously, the pair of panels 10 may be tilted toward the interior of the working space 3 about a substantially vertical axis Y, parallel to the front wall 4, to retract into the working space 3.
Thus, the pair of panels 10 may move between the substantially vertical open/closed position in which the protective safety screen 1 is coplanar with the vertical front wall 4, and a work position that is at least tilted, even to a considerable extent, toward the interior of the working space 3.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the pair of panels 10 may comprise an upper panel 10A and a lower panel 10B respectively, which have respective adjacent longitudinal edges 14A, 13B joined together by first hinge means 17.
Furthermore, a longitudinal edge 13A of the upper panel 10A may be equipped with second hinge means 18 intended for articulated connection to the vertical front wall 4 of the fume hood 2.
In operation, the first hinge means 17 may facilitate the tilt of the upper panel 10A relative to the lower panel 10B and the rotation of their respective adjacent longitudinal edges 14A, 13b about a substantially longitudinal common axis X to form the cavity that faces the interior of the working space 3.
On the other hand, the second hinge means 18 may facilitate the tilt of a longitudinal edge 13A of the upper panel 10A toward the interior of the working space 3 while keeping the other longitudinal edge 13a coplanar with the vertical front wall 4 of the fume hood 2.
For this purpose, the second hinge means 18 and the lower edge 14B of the lower panel 10B may be mounted to guides having a substantially vertical axis Y, not shown, positioned along the side walls 6 and proximate to the front wall 4 to allow both panels 10A, 10B of the protective safety screen 1 to slide between the vertical open position and the vertical closed position.
Conveniently, the first 17 and second 18 hinge means may extend along the entire longitudinal extent of the pair of transparent panels 10 and may have an at least partial sealing action, to prevent fluid exchange with the exterior of the hood.
According to a peculiar aspect of the invention, the protective safety screen 1 comprises a pivotal guide mechanism 19 for guiding the panels 10A, 10B in their rotational motion relative to each other about the common axis X between the open/closed position in which the panels 10A, 10B are substantially vertical, and the work position in which the panels 10A, 10B are tilted relative to each other into a hollow dihedral 16.
Thus, the hollow dihedral 16 may constitute an ideal recess for the operator W to introduce his/her head therein toward the work surface 8 while remaining outside the working space 3 and to have a closer look at the objects and equipment therein, while remaining outside the working space 3 and being effectively protection from splashes and harmful fumes of chemical and/or biological nature.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, the guide mechanism 19 may comprise a pair of hydraulic cylinders 20', 20" located along the transverse edges 21, 22 of the panels 10A, 10B to facilitate movement thereof between the substantially vertical open/closed position and the mutually tilted work position.
In particular, the hydraulic cylinders 20', 20" will be designed to cushion and stabilize the mutual position of the panels 10A, 10B in the work position, that creates the hollow dihedral 16 to allow the operator W to selectively adjust the inner angle α of the dihedral form 16.
As shown in the figures, the hydraulic cylinders 20', 20" may comprise an upper end 23', 23', that is rigidly joined to a transverse edge 21A, 22A of the upper panel 10A and a lower end 24' that is integrally joined to the corresponding transverse edge 21B, 22B of the lower panel 10B.
For easier movement to the tilted work position, the protective safety screen 1 may be equipped with at least one first actuation handle 25 placed along one of the adjacent longitudinal edges 14A, 13B of the pair of transparent panels 10A, 10B in the vicinity of the first hinge means 17 to push the common longitudinal axis X into the working space 3 and cause the creation of the hollow and retracted dihedral form 16.
Preferably, the protective safety screen 1 may be equipped with a second actuation handle 26 placed along the lower longitudinal edge 14B of the lower panel 10B to lift/lower the panels 10A, 10B together in coplanar vertical positions to open/close the front opening 15 of the fume hood 2.
In a further aspect of the invention, the fume hood 2 and the protective safety screen 1 of the above discussed type designed are operated by an operator W as follows.
A step is provided of a) providing at least one pair of transparent panels 10A, 10b having respective adjacent longitudinal edges 14A, 13B hinged to each other, wherein the panels 10A, 10B are initially coplanar to slide along substantially vertical guides as the screen 1 is lifted and lowered.
The adjacent longitudinal edges 14A, 13B are joined together by the first hinge means 17 and a longitudinal edge 13A of the upper panel 10A is equipped with the second hinge means 18 for articulated connection to the front wall 4 of the fume hood 2.
The method further comprises a step of b) pushing the adjacent edges 14A, 13B inwards with the panels 10A, 10B in a fully lowered position, to tilt them relative to each other into dihedral form 16 facing the interior of the working space 3.
Then, a step is provided of c) introducing, by the operator W, the head into the dihedral form 16 toward the working area while remaining outside the working space 3 to have a closer look at the objects and equipment therein while being protected from splashes and harmful fumes of chemical and/or biological nature, as depicted in FIG. 7.
With the above discussed steps c) and d), the operator W can introduce his/her own hands into the working space 3 through the opening 15 of the front wall 4 and freely operate the equipment.
When the operations have been completed, the method includes a step of d) operating said extraction means of the fume hood 2 to draw in the fumes and/or harmful gases and a step of e) pulling the adjacent longitudinal edges 14A, 13B toward the exterior of the working space 3 to move the panels 10A, 10B to coplanar and substantially vertical positions.
This occurs during the entire working cycle of anatomic pathology analysis activities.
Advantageously, the method of operation comprises a step of f) pulling a longitudinal edge 14B of the lower panel 10B to translationally move the panels 10A, 10B together downwards and close the front opening 15 of the fume hood 2.
In addition, once the extraction means have extracted the harmful fumes from the working space 3, the operator W may translationally move the panels 10A, 10b together upwards by holding the second handle 26, and possibly also the first handle 25, and moving them to the substantially vertical open position, to entirely open the front opening 15.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the fume hood and the protective safety screen fulfill the intended objects and particularly improve the safety for an operator, while enhancing visibility of the work operations through the protective safety screen while remaining outside the working space.
The protective safety screen and the fume hood of the invention are susceptible of a number of changes and variants, within the inventive concept disclosed in the appended claims.
While the protective safety screen and the fume hood have been described with particular reference to the accompanying figures, the numerals referred to in the disclosure and claims are only used for the sake of a better intelligibility of the invention and shall not be intended to limit the claimed scope in any manner.

Industrial Applicability

The present invention may find application in industry, because it can be produced on an industrial scale in chemical and/or anatomic pathology laboratory equipment manufacturing factories.

Claims

A protective safety screen (1) for a laboratory fume hood (2), in particular for use in anatomic pathology, wherein the hood (2) comprises a working space (3) with a vertical front wall (4), an opening (15) for access to the working space (3), a substantially horizontal work surface (8), said screen (1) comprising a pair of transparent panels (10), including an upper panel (10A) and a lower panel (10B) respectively, having respective adjacent longitudinal edges (14A, 13B), which are joined together by first hinge means (17), said adjacent longitudinal edges (14A, 13B) being adapted to rotate relative to each other about a substantially horizontal common axis (X),
characterized by comprising a pivotal guide mechanism (19) for guiding said panels (10A, 10B) in their rotational motion relative to each other about said common axis (X) between an open/closed position, in which said panels (10A, 10B) are substantially vertical, and a work position in which the panels (10A, 10B) are tilted relative to each other to form a hollow dihedral (16) in which the operator (W) may introduce his/her head toward the work surface (8), while remaining outside the working space (3), and have a closer look at the objects and equipment therein, while being protected from splashes and harmful fumes of chemical and/or biological nature.
Screen as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said pivotal guide mechanism (19) comprises a pair of hydraulic cylinders (20', 20") located along the transverse edges (21, 22) of said panels (10A, 10B) to facilitate movement thereof between said substantially vertical open/closed position and said mutually tilted work position.
Screen as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that said hydraulic cylinders (20', 20") are designed to cushion and stabilize the mutual position of said panels (10A, 10B) in said work position creating said hollow dihedral (16).
Screen as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal edge (13A) of the upper panel (10A) is equipped with second hinge means (18) for articulated connection to the front wall (4) of the fume hood (2).
Screen as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that said second hinge means (18) and the lower edge (14B) of the lower panel (10B) are mounted to guides having a substantially vertical axis (Y) placed along the side walls (6) and proximate to the front wall (4) to allow both of said panels (10A, 10B) to slide between a vertical open position and a vertical closed position.
Screen as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that said first (17) and said second (18) hinge means extend along the entire longitudinal extent of said panels (10A, 10B) and have at least a partial sealing action, to prevent fluid exchange with the exterior of the hood.
Screen as claimed in claim 1, characterized by comprising at least one first actuation handle (25) located along one of said adjacent longitudinal edges (14A, 13B) of said pair of transparent panels (10A, 10B) and proximate to said first hinge means (17) to push said common axis (X) toward the interior of the working space (3) and create said hollow dihedral (16).
Screen as claimed in claim 7, characterized by comprising a second actuation handle (26) placed along the lower longitudinal edge (14B) of the lower panel (10B) to lift/lower said panels (10A, 10B) together in coplanar vertical positions to open/close said front opening (15) of the fume hood (2).
A laboratory fume hood (2), in particular for anatomical pathology applications, comprising a working space (3), a substantially vertical front wall (4) having an access opening (15) to access said working space (3), a horizontal work surface (8), means for extracting fumes and other toxic and/or harmful materials, a protective safety screen (1) having an inner wall (11), an outer wall (12) and substantially horizontal longitudinal edges (13, 14), characterized in that said screen (1) is as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims.