GB2468657A

GB2468657A - Laboratory Containment Apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2468657A
Application number: GB0904513A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sean Patrick Codling
Original assignee: A1 Envirosciences Ltd
Current assignee: A1 Envirosciences Ltd
Priority date: 2009-03-17
Filing date: 2009-03-17
Publication date: 2010-09-22
Also published as: GB0904513D0

Abstract

Laboratory container apparatus 1 comprises a first casing element 2 with user access means 6 and a second casing element 3 which together form an enclosed area that has a front and a rear wherein the first and second casing elements are separably joined along seam means 4 that extends between a low point at the front and a high point at the rear. The first casing element 2 is configured to allow a user to view, from the front, the interior of the enclosed area and the first casing element may be transparent. The second casing element 3 is stably disposable on a horizontal surface. The seam 4 may comprise airtight sealing means and the first and second casing elements maybe joined by a hinge 5. The enclosed area maybe spherical or "bubble" shaped. The device may also comprise an aperture baffle 8 which divides a plenum chamber from the enclosed area. The device may include inlet and outlet ports for air circulation, a power supply, lighting and temperature control devices. The device may be portable.

Description

LABORATORY CONTAINMENT APPARATUS

The present invention relates to apparatus for enclosing hazardous and/or sensitive materials and/or processes in a laboratory. More particularly but not exclusively, it relates to a bench-top enclosure for manipulation or storage of hazardous and/or sensitive materials.

In a laboratory, it is often necessary to protect laboratory users from hazardous materials, such as toxic, corrosive, radioactive, biologically active or dusty materials. Traditionally, fume cupboards or fume hoods are used for this purpose, but these are costly to install, require permanent air extraction facilities, and are not particularly versatile.

Alternatively, some laboratory materials may themselves need to be protected. For example, air-sensitive or moisture-sensitive materials may need to be isolated from the laboratory atmosphere. Currently, this may be achieved by the use of glove boxes or the like. Some micro-biological materials must be protected from biological contamination, which is often achieved by installations that direct an airflow from these materials towards a user. Such installations again tend to be elaborate, costly and not particularly versatile in use.

Where limited space is available, such large and permanent installations are likely to be inconvenient. Apparatus that could easily be installed on a general purpose laboratory bench top when required, and then removed and stored when not in use, would be much more convenient.

Providing all the different systems described above may also be too expensive for many users, particularly in schools. It would be beneficial if apparatus were suitable for several distinct uses, as required, with minimal modification.

It is hence an object of the present invention to provide a laboratory enclosure that obviates the above disadvantages and provides a simple, effective, versatile and economical means of protecting laboratory staff, laboratory materials, or both.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided enclosure means for laboratory use comprising first and second casing elements together comprising enclosing casing means, the first casing element allowing a user to view an interior of the casing means therethrough and being provided with means for said user to access said interior, the second casing element being stably disposable on a horizontal surface, and the first and second casing elements being separably joined along seam means extending between a low point thereof adjacent the user and a high point thereof remote from the user.

Preferably, said seam means extends substantially in a single plane.

Said seam means may extend, in use, at an angle of between 300 and 60° to the horizontal.

The seam means may comprise corresponding contact surfaces on each casing element, mateable together to form the seam means.

The seam means may comprise flange means extending outwardly from the casing means.

The seam means may comprise airtight seal means.

Preferably, the first and second casing elements are hingeably connected, each to the other.

Advantageously, the casing means is provided with hinge means located adjacent an uppermost portion of the seam means.

Preferably, the first and second casing elements each comprise approximately half of the casing means.

Preferably, the casing means is generally circular in section.

Advantageously, the casing means may be generally spherical.

The seam means may then divide the casing means into two generally hemispherical casing elements.

Preferably, the first casing element is substantially transparent.

The second casing element may be substantially transparent.

The second casing element may be substantially translucent.

The second casing element may be at least partially opaque.

The second casing element is preferably provided with a generally flat base.

Said generally flat base may comprise working surface means within the casing means.

Preferably, the casing means is provided with apertured baffle means, dividing plenum chamber means from a remainder of an interior of the casing means.

The plenum chamber means may be located remotely from the access means.

The casing means may be provided with extraction port means connectable to air extraction means or the like.

Said extraction port means is advantageously connected to the plenum chamber means.

Preferably, the means for a user to access the interior of the casing means comprises access port means.

Advantageously, there are two or more such access port means.

Said access port means may be so configured and/or disposed as to permit the user to manipulate materials and equipment disposed on working surface means of the enclosure means.

The first casing element may be provided with inlet port means.

Said inlet port means may be located adjacent an uppermost point, in use, of the first casing element.

The inlet port means may be adapted for air or other gas to be introduced to the casing means therethrough.

The inlet port means may be adapted for cable and/or piping means to enter the casing means therethrough.

Preferably, the enclosure means is operatively connected or connectable to atmosphere extraction means.

Advantageously, the enclosure means is operatively connected or connectable to filter means adapted to filter in atmosphere therefrom.

The enclosure means may be provided with electrical power supply means.

The enclosure means may have temperature control means mounted or mountable thereto or therein.

The enclosure means may be provided with illumination means, optionally ultraviolet illumination means.

The enclosure means may be adapted to be reconfigured between a plurality of uses.

The access port means may be adapted for accessories, such as blanking plates, filters, iris ports or glove means, to be detachably mountable thereto.

The enclosure means is preferably so dimensional as to be conveniently portable by one or two persons.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a first containment device embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a frontal elevation of the containment device shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the containment device shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the containment device shown in Figure 1, in use as a fume hood; Figure 5 is a side elevation of a second containment device embodying the present invention, in use as a controlled environment chamber; Figure 6 is a scrap plan view from above of the containment device shown in Figure 5; and Figures 7A to 7E show schematically a variety of arrangements mountable to an access port of either containment device embodying the present invention.

Referring now to the Figures and to Figures 1 to 3 in particular, a first containment device 1 comprises a generally spherical casing, typically made of a polyacrylate or polycarbonate material, divided into first and second generally hemispherical shells 2,3. The first and second shells 2,3 meet along an annular sealing flange 4, which is angled at between 300 and 450 to the horizontal when the device I is in use. A lowest point of the flange 4 is to a front of the device 1, and a hinge 5 connects the shells 2,3 at a highest point of the flange 4, which is to a rear of the device 1.

The first shell 2 is provided with two generally circular access ports 6, located approximately half way up its frontal aspect, one conveniently located for each hand of a user.

The second shell 3 has a flat base 7, allowing it to be positioned stably on a laboratory bench-top, a table, a trolley or other substantially horizontal surface. An interior surface of the base 7 also acts as a flat work surface within the device 1. At a rear of the second shell 3, an apertured baffle 8 divides a plenum chamber 9 from a remainder of the interior of the casing.

The plenum chamber 9 is provided with an extraction port 10, by which it may be connected to an air extraction system or the like (see below for details). Note: the baffle 8 and plenum 9 are omitted from the remaining Figures, for clarity, but are a preferred feature in all embodiments of the present invention.

The transparent first shell 2 allows a user to manipulate equipment and materials within the device 1 by reaching through the access ports 6, while affording an un-obscured view of the interior of the device 1 and its contents (see Figure 2 in particular). The angle of the flange 4 joining the shells 2,3 keeps the flange 4 out of the user's eyeline.

The second shell 3 may also be mainly transparent (although the base 7 will probably be opaque in most embodiments), but it may also be entirely opaque or translucent. Whether transparent, translucent or opaque, the second shell 3 may be coloured or tinted if desired.

The position of the access ports 6 allows straightforward and ergonomic manual access to equipment and materials within the casing, particularly those disposed on the base 7 of the second shell 3.

The flange 4 is provided with an airtight seal arrangement. Thus, when extraction is applied to the plenum chamber 9, an airflow is established inwardly through the access ports 6, through the apertured baffle 8 and into the plenum chamber 9.

The provision of the hinge 5 allows the first shell 2 to be separated and swung up and away from the second shell 3. This provides easy access for internal cleaning, installation and removal of equipment within the device 1, or the like. The angle of the flange 4 joining the shells 2, 3 means that the second shell 3 has only a low frontal lip, easing access to the base 7 and anything located thereon.

This is shown particularly well in Figure 4, in which the first containment device 1 is set up as a bench-top fume hood. The first shell 2 has been hinged up and away from the second shell 3, to allow equipment to be installed within the device 1. Both the hinged clam-shell structure of the casing and the ease of access to the work surface/base 7 of the second shell 3 are clearly illustrated. The flange 4 separates into two sections, one mounted to each shell 2, 3, which cooperate to form a seal when the shells 2, 3 are re-united for operation of the device I (as in Figure 1).

To set the device 1 up as a fume-hood, a flexible conduit 12 connects the extraction port 10 of the device I to a fan extraction unit 13. This may be provided with filters such as HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance) filters andlor activated carbon filters, to remove particulate materials and volatile materials, respectively, from the extracted air. An exhaust tube 14 of the fan extraction unit 13 leads filtered air, extracted from the device 1, to where it may safely be vented (this depends on exactly what materials are in use within the device I and how effectively they are trapped by the filters).

A second containment device 11 is shown in Figure 5, in this case set up as a controlled environment enclosure. The second device 11 also has a generally spherical clamshell casing, comprising first and second 2, 3 generally hemispherical shells, separably joined along an annular sealing flange 4, aligned at an acute angle to the horizontal in use. It differs from the first containment device 1 solely in that it has an inlet port 17 located at a highest point, in use, of the first shell 2.

To act as a controlled environment enclosure, the extraction port 10 of the second device 11 is connected by a flexible conduit 12 to a fan extractionlcirculation unit 15. The fan extraction/circulation unit 15 may be provided with filters, as for the fan extraction unit 13 described above, but more often it is provided with a molecular sieve drying arrangement to remove moisture from the air, or with suitable absorbents to remove oxygen from an inert atmosphere. A return conduit 16 leads air or other gases from the fan extraction/circulation -10 -unit 15 to the inlet port 17 of the second device 11. Thus, a controlled atmosphere is continuously re-circulated through the interior of the device 11 and the fan extractionlcirculation unit 15.

Figure 6 shows the inlet port 17 in more detail. Preferably, the inlet port 17 is formed as a separate moulding, mounted to an aperture formed through a wall of the first shell 2 by means of a mounting flange 18. It is desirable that the inlet port 17 be robustly constructed, as it may be used to insert various accessories into the device 11 (see below), as well as merely being used as an inlet for gases as described above. If the inlet port 17 is plugged or blanked off, the second device 11 will behave exactly like the first device 1. Indeed, for maximum versatility, only a second device 11 is required. However, the first device 1 will be slightly cheaper to produce, and may be used whenever atmospheric re-circulation or the introduction of extra accessories would not be required.

Various attachments may be fitted to the access ports 6 of the first shell 2. In many cases, a simple, open port 6 will be all that is required (Figure 7A). However, it may be desirable to fit a blanking plate 19, as shown in Figure 7B, to one or both access ports 6 -for example, in a controlled environment enclosure, as in Figure 5, open access ports 6 will be undesirable.

Blanking plates 19 also make good supports for monitoring equipment, such as temperature, humidity or airflow monitors. In some configurations, a filter 20 may be fitted to an access port 6, as in Figure 7C. Thus, when a straightforward airflow through the device 1, 11 is required, but airborne particulates are to be kept to a minimum, a HEPA filter 20 may be fitted to the access port 6 to clean the air drawn into the device 1, 11. In such situations, in order to allow manual access within the device 1, 11 without allowing ingress of untreated air, an iris arrangement 21 may be fitted to an access port 6, as in Figure 7D, or a glove port -11 - 22 may be fitted for the highest levels of containment and/or controlled atmospheres, thus turning the device 1, 11 into a fully-functional glove box.

Accessories mountable via the inlet port 17 include lighting units, such as an LED visible illumination unit or a UV lamp. These are suspended from the inlet port 17, within the casing of the device 1, 11, with their power supplies being led out through the inlet port 17.

Inert gases (e.g. N2, C02) may be piped in through the inlet port 17, for example through a gas tap mounting fitted to the inlet port 17. Where temperature control is required, a heater or chiller block may be suspended from the inlet port 17, with either electrical power supplies or piped heat-exchange fluids passing through the inlet port 17 itself.

The containment devices 1, 11 may thus be easily configured for many different uses. They may be set up as a fume-hood for chemical handling or for handling dusty materials, with the appropriate filters fitted to the air extraction arrangements. They may be set up as biosafety enclosures, with HEPA filters to prevent escape of biological material (or to prevent ingress of unwanted biological material from outside the device 1, 11). Low humidity and/or low oxygen atmospheres may be created and maintained, for working with moisture or air sensitive materials, and the devices 1, 11 may be set up as fully enclosed glove boxes if necessary. Highly hazardous samples (especially of microbiological origin) may be kept in a sealed, HEPA filtered environment. PCR work requires a clean air environment and ultraviolet illumination, both of which can be provided as described above. It is also straightforward to set up the second device 11 as a climate-controlled cabinet, with a controlled atmospheric temperature and/or humidity. In each case, a user needs only the basic device, plus whichever fittings and attachments are required to adapt the device for his or her particular purpose or purposes.

-12 -In each case, the arrangement of the clam-shell casing and of the access ports allows clear visibility of the contents of the device 1, 11, and ergonomic manual access to the contents when required. The devices of the present invention are not only versatile, but with usually equal the performance of (or even out-perform) existing specialised, single-purpose arrangements.

The devices 1, 11 described are generally spherical. However, generally cylindrical casings, or even generally cuboid casings are also possible, as long as the casings comprise two sections having a junction that is substantially lower adjacent a user than on a side of the device remote from the user.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Laboratory container apparatus comprising first and second casing elements together comprising enclosing casing means having a front and a rear, the first casing element configured to allow a user to view, from the front, an interior of the enclosing casing means therethrough and being provided with access means for allowing said user to access said interior, the second casing element being stably disposable on a horizontal surface, and the first and second casing elements being separably joined along seam means extending between a low point thereof at the front and a high point thereof at the rear.
2. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said seam means extends substantially in a singular plane.
3. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said seam means extends at an angle of between 30° and 60° to the horizontal when disposed on a horizontal surface.
4. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said seam means comprises flange means extending outwardly from the enclosing casing means.
5. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said seam means comprises airtight seal means.
6. Laboratory Container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said first and second casing elements are hingeably connected, each to the other.
7. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said first and second casing elements each comprise approximately half of said enclosing casing means.
8. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is generally spherical.
9. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said first casing element is substantially transparent.
10. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said second casing element is substantially transparent.
11. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said second casing element is provided with a generally flat base.
12. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein said generally flat base comprises working surface means within said enclosing casing means.
13. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said access means comprises first and second access port means.
14. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of said first and second access port means is generally circular.
15. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is provided with aperture baffle means, dividing plenum chamber means from a remainder of an interior of the casing means.
16. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said plenum chamber means is located remotely from said access means.
17. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is provided with extraction port means.
18. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 17 when dependent upon claim 15 or claim 16, wherein said extraction port means is connected to said plenum chamber means.
19. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said first casing element comprises inlet port means.
20. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is provided with electrical power supply means.
21. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is provided with illumination means.
22. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein said illumination means is ultraviolet illumination means.
23. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is provided with temperature control means.
24. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means is dimensioned so as to be conveniently transportable by one or two persons.
25. Laboratory container apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said enclosing casing means comprises a polyacrylate or polycarbonate material.
26. Laboratory container apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to the Figures of the accompanying drawings.