HK1069305B - Bioclean room unit - Google Patents

Description

Sterile room unit

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an aseptic chamber unit.

Background

Immunocompromised patients, for example, need to be isolated in a hospital's sterile living space (sterile room) for several weeks to receive treatment. As such a sterile living space for treatment, a sterile room unit is known.

A conventional aseptic chamber unit is shown in fig. 1, in which reference character a denotes a frame body. The frame body a includes a box-like chamber b with a ventilation device; one end of the beam c is fixed to the upper side end of the box-shaped chamber b and extends horizontally outwards along the box-shaped chamber b; the beam d is provided to be connected to the other end of the beam c. Beam e is disposed parallel to beam d so as to interconnect with the middle portion of beam c; the support f is provided to be vertically connected with the other end of the beam c.

A top plate (not shown) is fixed to the frame body a, and an openable and closable transparent plastic curtain g is provided on three sides of the frame body a except for one side of the box-like chamber b. In this way, an aseptic chamber h defined by the box-like chamber b of the frame body, the ceiling and the curtain g is formed inside the aseptic chamber unit, and a bed i is placed inside the aseptic chamber h.

An air inlet j is provided on one side of the box-like chamber b, and air k is thereby taken into the box-like chamber b through the ventilation device of the box-like chamber b. An air outlet port l is provided on the surface of the box-like chamber b facing the aseptic chamber h so as to blow air to the head of the patient lying on the bed I.

The air k entering the box-like chamber b from the air inlet j becomes dust-free by the dust removing means in the ventilating device. The air k thus cleaned is blown from the air outlet 1 into the sterile room h, and flows from the head end to the foot end of the patient. In this way the sterile room h is kept sterile.

The flow rate of clean air k blown into the aseptic chamber h from the air outlet port l is regulated by a remote switch while the patient is treated outside the aseptic chamber unit by means of a head and a glove box.

However, the above described aseptic chamber unit has the following disadvantages.

i) Since the ventilation apparatus is located in the box-like chamber b on the side of the patient's head, noise sources such as the blower and the exhaust port 1 are placed close to the patient's head. In this case, the patient in the space may not feel comfortable.

ii) dust removing devices such as filters in ventilation equipment and high efficiency particulate air filters (called HEPA filters) are easily contaminated due to the constant entry of air k from the outside. This requires frequent replacement of the dust removing device, which may result in increased costs.

iii) whenever someone enters or exits or brings in or out of the aseptic chamber h, it is necessary to switch the remote switch to increase or decrease the amount of air k passing through the vent/as the curtain g is opened or closed. In this case, the operator may neglect to turn the switch on or off.

iv) the space of the sterile room h is too small to be felt by the patient who is inside.

v) the patient cannot reach and manipulate the medical manipulator on the ward wall because the head side of the patient is blocked by the box-like chamber b.

vi) the support column vertically and oppositely mounted on the foot side of the patient makes it difficult to move the bed i into and out of the sterile room h and blocks the view from the foot side of the patient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and has an object to provide an aseptic room unit which can provide comfort to a patient therein, is easy to handle and has low cost, a large space and no depression, which allows the patient to use medical manipulators on a wall of a hospital room and to easily carry in and out a bed, and which improves visibility of a foot side of the patient.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an aseptic chamber unit comprising a frame body having a top plate thereon and being juxtaposed on a floor, at least one side of the frame body being open, and a curtain of transparent resin arranged to be selectively opened and closed to cover the open side of said frame body, whereby an interior space is defined by the frame body and the curtain to form an aseptic chamber, said aseptic chamber being provided with a blow conduit for blowing air from above the head of a patient into the aseptic chamber, said frame body having an air flow passage which extends upwardly from the side of the patient's foot for conveying air in the frame body and along the top plate to the blow conduit, said air flow passage being provided with air cleaning means for cleaning the air.

According to the invention, the blower duct is provided on the ceiling above the patient's head to allow the flow rate of air from the exhaust outlet to be reduced before the air reaches around the patient's face.

According to the invention, the frame body is provided with an opening on the head side of the patient, through which opening a medical manipulator on a wall of a hospital room can be received and positioned in the sterile room, while the front surface of the frame body abuts against the wall.

According to the invention, a blower of the air cleaning device is arranged at least in the air flow channel on the foot side of the patient.

According to the present invention, the air cleaning apparatus is provided with means for removing dust from the air passing through the air flow passage, means for removing odorous substances from the air, and means for killing microorganisms trapped together with the fine particles.

According to the present invention, the curtain is opened such that the curtain switch is opened to increase the amount of air and/or flow rate from the blower. Closing the curtain causes the curtain switch to be turned off to reduce the amount of air and/or flow rate from the blower at a predetermined time after the switch is turned off.

According to the present invention, the front surface of the frame body positioned on the head side of the patient during use is in close contact with the ward wall. Thus, the medical manipulator on the wall of the ward is in the sterile room.

Air entering the air flow channel from the foot side of the patient in the frame body is cleaned by the air cleaning device, conducted to the blower duct and blown into the sterile room through the exhaust outlet of the blower duct. In this way, the aseptic chamber remains sterile. The aseptic chamber ensures sterility as the amount of airflow from the blower increases with the opening of the curtain shelf.

According to the present invention, in the sterile room, the blower which may be a source of noise is located on the foot side of the patient, and thus is less noisy for the patient, so that the patient can feel comfortable, and the patient is not aware of the noise and is focused on the treatment.

Since the flow rate of air through the exhaust outlet of the blower duct is reduced before reaching the patient's face, the patient does not feel the influence of the air flow.

The dust removing device is continuously operated for a long period, and needs less replacement frequency, thereby reducing the cost.

Since the amount of air and/or flow rate from the blower can be automatically adjusted according to the opening or closing of the curtain, the reliability of the biological purification performance in the aseptic chamber is enhanced.

The sterile room has a large space, a treatment space is ensured, and a patient is provided with a sense of safety.

To communicate with the nurse, the patient may use the medical manipulator in a sterile room.

The absence of a support strut on the opposite side of the patient's foot allows easy access to and from the bed and improves visibility around the bed.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional aseptic chamber unit;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an aseptic chamber unit in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2; and

fig. 4 is a circuit diagram showing how the two blowers switch and operate.

Detailed Description

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 2-4 show one embodiment of an aseptic chamber unit according to the present invention.

In fig. 2 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a frame body of the aseptic chamber unit. The frame body 1 includes a pair of opposed side plates 2 vertically arranged as front pillars; a panel 3 fixed to an upper front end of the side plate 2 to be connected with the side plate 2; a panel 4 fixed to the lower front end of the side panel 2 and connected to the side panel 2 at a distance from the panel 3; a hollow box-like chamber 5 positioned vertically and between the side plates 2 as a rear pillar when viewed from the rear, the width of the box-like chamber 5 being smaller than the distance between the side plates 2; a top plate 6 having one end portion connected at a side edge to an upper end of the side plate 2 so as to extend horizontally into the box-like chamber 5 and the other end portion fixed to a part of the box-like chamber 5 near the upper end of the box-like chamber 5, the top plate 6 having a width substantially the same as the distance between the side plates 2; an open-bottomed box-like chamber 7 connected to the upper surface of the top plate 6 and the side surfaces of the side plates 2, said box-like chamber 7 having a length substantially equal to the distance between the side plates 2 and a width substantially equal to the width of the side plates 2; and an open-bottomed duct 8 fixed to the upper surface of the top plate 6 and extending in the horizontal and axial directions of the aseptic unit, said duct 8 having a width substantially equal to the width of the box-like chamber 5, said duct 8 having one end connected to and communicating with the upper end of the box-like chamber 5 and the other end connected to and communicating with the rear end of the box-like chamber 7. Thus, an opening 9 is provided between the panels 3 and 4.

In the frame body 1, each corner a defined by the duct 8 and the ceiling plate 6 and the corner B defined by the box-like chamber 7 and the ceiling plate 6 are formed in a small arc-shaped portion having a predetermined radius so as to prevent dust from accumulating at the corners a and B.

The box-like chamber 5 of the frame body 1 allows air introduced through the lower opening thereof to flow upward inside so as to serve as an air flow passage. The open-bottomed duct 8 cooperates with a portion of the top plate 6 to form an air flow passage so that air from the box-like chamber 5 is allowed to flow into the duct 8. In addition, the open-bottomed box-like chamber 7 forms an air flow passage in cooperation with a portion of the top plate 6, which allows air from the duct 8 to flow in.

From upstream to downstream in the direction of air flow, in other words from bottom to top, the box-like chamber 5 is fitted with a pre-filter 10, a photocatalytic filter 11, a catalytic excitation lamp 12 in the form of a UV lamp, a medium efficiency filter 13 and two blowers 14 (only one of which is shown in figure 3), while the box-like chamber 7 is fitted with a HEPA filter 15. In this manner, the pre-filter 10, the photocatalytic filter 11, the catalytic excitation lamp 12, the medium efficiency filter 13 and the blower 14 provide a ventilation device 16, and the ventilation device 16 and the HEPA filter 15 provide an air cleaning device.

The pre-filter 10, the medium efficiency filter 13 and the HEPA filter 15 serve as dust removing means. The photocatalytic filter 11 and the catalytic excitation lamp 12 function as a deodorizing means. The catalytically excited lamp 12 and the medium equivalent ratio filter 13 serve as a disinfection device.

The catalytic excitation lamp 12 between the photocatalytic filter 11 and the medium efficiency filter 13 is used not only for deodorization by photocatalytic excitation of an odoriferous substance around the decomposition catalyst, but also as a means for sterilizing trapped bacteria and fine particles in the medium efficiency filter 13 by the gene destruction effect of ultraviolet rays.

A gas through hole 17 is formed in the top plate 6 below the HEPA filter 15. Further, a blast duct 19 with a 90-degree arc-shaped portion and having a plurality of exhaust ports 18 is installed in a space surrounded by the lower surface of the top plate 6 and the face plate 3 and positioned between the side plates 2 and directly below the top plate 6.

The curtain rails (not shown) are fixed to and along, respectively, outer edge portions of the top plate 6, the outer edge portions of the top plate 6 being located between the rear ends of the side plates 2 (i.e., the ends of the plates 2 remote from the panels 3 and 4) and the opposite sides of the boxlike chamber 5. The curtain rail is provided with a transparent plastic curtain 20 which is selectively opened and closed. In this way, the inner space enclosed by the frame body 1 and the curtain 20 provides a sterile chamber 21. A pattern such as a flower or animal may be printed on the curtain 20 with an antimicrobial ink.

As will be described later, the curtain switch 31 is provided at a predetermined position of the frame body 1. When the curtain 20 is closed, only one blower 14 is operated. Pulling the curtain 20 in the direction of arrow C in fig. 2 causes the curtain switch 31 to open, operating the two blowers 14 to increase the amount and flow rate of air. Once the curtain 20 is closed, the curtain switch 31 is turned off. Within a predetermined time (several minutes) after the curtain switch 31 is turned off and the curtain 20 is closed, one of the two air blowers 14 stops to reduce the amount and flow rate of air.

In fig. 3, reference numeral 22 denotes an illumination lamp 22 fixed to the inner surface of the panel 3 so as to be positioned below the blower duct 19; a (therapeutic) panel, for example a picture made of non-combustible board or cloth or a thin wall-hung television, fixed to a surface of box-like chamber 5 facing aseptic chamber 21; 24, a bed disposed within aseptic chamber 21; and 25, medical manipulators on the ward wall 26. In the case where the panel 23 is a picture, a pattern of flowers or animals may be printed thereon with an antibacterial ink.

Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram showing how the two blowers 14 are switched and operated. In fig. 4, reference numeral 27 denotes a power supply; 28, an operating switch; 29, a blower motor that drives one of the two blowers 14; 30, a blower motor driving the other blower 14; 31, a curtain switch; 32, a timer. As shown in fig. 2, the curtain switch 31 is fixed to the rear upper portion of the side plate 2 on the head side of the patient.

The operation mode of this embodiment will be described.

The sterile room unit according to the invention is set up so that the outer front surfaces of the panels 3 and 4 are in intimate contact with the walls 26 of the hospital room in use. A highly airtight sealing member is adhesively applied to the outer front surfaces of panels 3 and 4 to prevent ingress of external dirty air through opening 9 and leakage of clean air from within aseptic chamber 21. Medical manipulator 25 is positioned within aseptic chamber 21 through opening 9.

The curtain 20 generally remains closed when no one is entering or exiting or carrying items into or out of the aseptic chamber unit. In this case, the operation switch 28 in fig. 4 is on, and one of the two blowers 14 in the ventilating device 16 driven by the blower motor 29 is in operation, and the catalytic ignition lamp 12 is on. Thus, air is introduced into the box-like chamber 5 from the lower end of the box-like chamber 5 by the driven blower 14, and coarse dust particles carried in the air are captured by the pre-filter 10 and removed as the air passes through the pre-filter 10. It is to be noted that the majority of the air to be admitted into box-like chamber 5 is the air in aseptic chamber 21, the air that has leaked out of aseptic chamber 21 being compensated from the outside.

The air passing through the pre-filter 10 rises in the box-like chamber 5 to pass through a photocatalytic filter 11 with photocatalytic substances excited by UV rays from a catalytic excitation lamp 12. Then, the smelly substances in the air contact or stick to the photocatalytic filter 11 and are decomposed into inorganic gas components such as carbon dioxide and water, whereby the air is cleaned. Bacteria and particles trapped by the medium efficiency filter 13 are disinfected by UV radiation from the catalytic excitation lamp 12.

Cleaned air is discharged from the blower 14 through the boxlike chamber 5 and the duct 8 into the boxlike chamber 7 where it is dispersed and passed through the HEPA filter 15 and through the vent 17 to the blower duct 19. Fine dust particles in the air are removed by the HEPA filter 15 so that the air is completely cleaned. Completely clean air is blown into aseptic chamber 21 via exhaust outlet 18 and allowed to flow obliquely downward from the patient's head side to the foot side as shown by line D in fig. 3. Thus, the aseptic chamber 21 is kept sterile, and air is introduced into the box-like chamber 5 again from the lower end of the box-like chamber 5.

When a person enters or carries an item into aseptic chamber 21, curtain 20 is pulled open to one side. This causes the curtain switch 31 to be switched to the y side in fig. 4 to be turned on, driving the blower motor 30. As a result, another stopped blower 14 is also activated to increase the amount and flow rate of air from blower duct 19 into aseptic chamber 21. Thus, even if the curtain 20 is opened, the aseptic chamber 21 ensures sterility. In this case, when the curtain 20 is opened, the timer 32 is reset to an operable state.

When the curtain 20 is closed, the curtain switch 31 is turned off to the X side shown in fig. 4. As a result, the timer 32 is started to keep the blower motor 30 in operation so that both blowers remain in operation. At a predetermined time after the switch is turned off, timer 32 is turned off to stop blower motor 30 and one of the two blowers 14 so that the amount and flow rate of air blown into aseptic chamber 21 are returned to the initial levels.

Then, when the curtain 20 is pulled to one side again to be opened, the switch 31 is turned on to 4 side, so that the blower motor 30 drives the blower 14 and the timer 32 is reset. When the operation switch 28 is turned off, the blower motors 29 and 30 and the two blowers 14 are stopped. In this case, the timer 32 is reset.

For communication with the nurse, the patient may use a medical manipulator 25 which is provided on the ward wall 26 and extends into the sterile room 21 through the opening 9.

Since the blower 14 in the ventilation device 16, which may be a source of noise, is positioned on the foot side of the patient, the patient may be comfortable not paying attention to the noise, thus focusing their attention to receiving treatment in the sterile room 21.

Since the flow rate of air from the exhaust outlet 18 of the blower duct 19 is reduced before reaching the patient's face, the patient does not feel the disturbance of the air flow.

The curtain 20 may be printed with a design such as a flower or animal. The panel 23 may also have such a flower or animal design or be fitted with a thin wall-mounted television. As a result of this, the patient may feel relaxed or find the space in aseptic room 21 comfortable.

Since most of the air is used for circulation, the pre-filter 10, the photocatalytic filter 11 and the HEPA filter 15 are continuously operated for a long period of time, so that the frequency of filter replacement is small, which results in a reduction in cost.

The curtain switch 31 automatically adjusts the number of blowers 14 to be operated or the amount of air and flow rate from the blowers 14 when the curtain 20 is opened or closed, thereby enhancing the reliability of the biological decontamination performance of the aseptic chamber unit.

The large space of the aseptic chamber 21 ensures a treatment space and provides a sense of safety to the patient.

The absence of a brace on the opposite side of the patient's foot allows easy entry or exit of the couch 24 and improves visibility around the couch.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, the pre-filter, photocatalytic filter and catalytic excitation light, and medium-efficiency filter may be disposed in a vertical box-like chamber located on the foot side of the patient, while the HEPA filter may be disposed in a box-like chamber located above the head of the patient; those fixing members may be provided wherever they are provided or how many as long as they are provided in the airflow passage in a fixed order. Although two blowers are provided in this embodiment, the number of blowers may be set to one or more if the amount and flow rate of air can be adjusted. Although the curtain switch corresponds to one of the curtains in this embodiment, the curtain switch may be provided for each curtain. The curtains are arranged on two sides of the frame body in the embodiment; alternatively, only one side of the frame body may be opened to provide a curtain only at the opened side.

As mentioned above, the aseptic chamber unit according to the invention has a number of advantages as follows:

I) in the sterile room, the blower, which may be a source of noise, is located on the foot side of the patient and is therefore less noisy, so that the patient may feel comfortable, inattenting on the noise and paying attention to the treatment.

II) the patient does not feel the influence of the air flow since the air flow rate through the exhaust outlet of the blower duct is reduced before reaching the patient's face.

III) the dust removal device continues to operate for a longer period of time, requiring less frequency of replacement, thereby reducing costs.

IV) the curtain switch can automatically adjust the air amount and flow rate from the blower when the curtain is opened or closed. This prevents external air from entering the chamber even if the curtain is pulled open to one side, and enhances the reliability of the biological purification performance in the aseptic chamber.

V) sterile room 21 has a large space, ensures a treatment space and provides a sense of safety to the patient.

VI) to communicate with the nurse, the patient may use the medical manipulator in a sterile room.

VII) the absence of struts on the opposite side of the patient's foot allows easy access to and from the couch and improves visibility around the couch.

Claims (8)

1. An aseptic chamber unit comprising:

a frame body having

A duct extending horizontally and axially at an upper side of the top plate,

a first box-like chamber located at the rear of the duct and on the foot side of the patient and communicating with the duct to extend downstream, thereby acting as a strut,

a second box-shaped chamber located at the front of the duct and at the head side of the patient and communicating with the duct, side plates fixed to opposite sides of the second box-shaped chamber to extend downstream so as to serve as pillars,

at least one side portion of the frame body is open, and

a transparent resin curtain selectively openable and closable to cover an open side of said frame body, whereby an interior space defined by the frame body and the curtain provides a sterile chamber, characterized in that said second box-like chamber is provided with a blast duct located within the sterile chamber and having a plurality of blast outlets for the flow of air over the head side of the patient to allow a reduction in the flow rate of the gas before the gas reaches around the face of the patient, said blast duct being provided between the side plates and directly under the top plate for communication, said first and second box-like chambers being provided with an air flow passage for elevating the gas sucked from the bottom of the first box-like chamber and feeding said gas forward to said blast duct, and

an air purifying device provided in the air flow passage to purify air.

2. An aseptic room unit as defined in claim 1, wherein the frame body is provided with an opening on the head side of the patient for positioning the medical manipulator on the wall of the patient room in the aseptic room, with the front surface of the frame body abutting against the wall.

3. Aseptic chamber unit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, having a blower duct with a substantially sector-shaped arc-shaped section.

4. Sterile room unit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the blower of the air cleaning device is mounted in the air flow channel on the foot side of the patient.

5. An aseptic chamber unit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first box-like chamber has a width less than the width of the top panel between the side panels and correspondingly less than the width of the second box-like chamber, and which width is substantially equal to the duct width.

6. Sterile room unit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the air cleaning device is provided with means for removing dust in the gas flow through the gas flow channel, means for removing odoriferous substances in the air, and means for killing microorganisms trapped together with the particles.

7. The aseptic chamber unit of claim 1 or 2, wherein opening the curtain causes the curtain switch to be opened to increase the amount of air and/or flow rate from the blower, and wherein closing the curtain causes the curtain switch to be opened to decrease the amount of air and/or flow rate from the blower a predetermined time after the switch is opened.

8. Sterile room unit as claimed in claim 7, wherein the air cleaning device has two blowers, at least one blower being adapted to be turned on or off by a curtain switch.