JP2001124432A - Temperature controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently radiate from a radiating means without contaminating a discharge nozzle and a work with dust or the like. SOLUTION: A temperature sensor 3 is provided. A Peltier element 4 for cooling or heating a liquid-like material 1 based on a sensed result of the sensor 3 is provided. Radiating fins 6 are provided on one surface of the element 4. A housing 11 for partitioning a refrigerant passage 12 is provided around the fins 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a temperature control device suitable for use in, for example, lowering or increasing the temperature of a liquid material stored in a container such as a syringe as required.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional apparatus of this type, as illustrated in a schematic diagram in FIG. 2, a syringe for temporarily storing a liquid material 1 to be discharged in a fixed amount such as an adhesive or various paste-like materials is used. A temperature sensor 3 is inserted into the device, and one surface of a Peltier element 4 is adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the syringe 2, and
There is a type in which the temperature sensor 3 and the Peltier element 4 are connected via a controller 5.

In such a temperature control device, the Peltier element 4 causes heat absorption on one side when current flows and heat generation on the other side, and the heat absorption face and the heat generation face change when the direction of the current is changed. The controller 5 functions to provide a Peltier effect in which the heat absorption and the heat generation change in proportion to the current, and the controller 5 controls the temperature of the liquid material 1 detected by the temperature sensor, the target temperature input in advance, and the target temperature. When the detected temperature and the target temperature are different from each other, the direction and magnitude of the current necessary for the Peltier element are determined in order to make the liquid material 1 the target temperature, and the current is supplied to the Peltier element. On the other hand, when the detected temperature is equal to the target temperature, it functions to stop the current to the Peltier element.

[0004] Therefore, here, the liquid material 1 in the syringe is used.
Is higher than the target temperature, the Peltier element 4
Performs the required amount of heat absorption on the sticking surface to the outer peripheral surface of the syringe by the electric current there, and generates heat on the opposite surface, and conversely, when it is lower than the target temperature, the sticking surface on the outer peripheral surface of the syringe Then, the liquid material 1 can be brought to a target temperature by performing a required amount of heat generation and performing heat absorption on the opposing surface.

[0005] Further, in such an apparatus, particularly when the syringe attachment surface of the Peltier element 4 functions as a heat absorbing surface and the opposing surface functions as a heat generating surface, the heat radiation from the heat generating surface side can be smoothed out quickly. In order to prevent runaway of the Peltier device due to heat transfer from the heating surface of the Peltier device itself to the heat absorbing surface, on the heating surface side in this case,
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), it is common practice to attach fins 6 as heat radiating means, and to provide a fan 7 for cooling the fins 6 as shown in FIG. 2 (b).

[0006]

However, in such a prior art, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), a device provided with only the radiation fins 6 has a sufficient radiation performance when the outside air temperature is high. Rather, there is a possibility that runaway of the Peltier element 4 due to accumulation of heat there cannot be completely prevented,
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the device provided with the blower fan 7 in addition to the radiator fins 6 can provide an excellent heat radiating effect. Due to the flow, soaring, etc., the dust often adheres to the discharge nozzle attached to the lower end of the syringe 2 and the liquid material application surface of the work, and therefore, the discharge amount of the liquid material 1 in each discharge step Variation,
Another problem is that the shape of the applied liquid 1 is likely to be disturbed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent the discharge nozzle and the work from being contaminated by dust and the like. Another object of the present invention is to provide a temperature control device capable of efficiently dissipating heat from a heat dissipating unit.

[0008]

A temperature control device according to the present invention includes a temperature sensor, a Peltier element for cooling or heating an object to be measured based on a result detected by the temperature sensor, and a temperature control device. A radiating means, for example, a radiating fin is mounted on one of the surfaces, and a housing for surrounding the radiating fin and defining a refrigerant passage is provided. Here, more preferably, the detection result by the temperature sensor is compared with the required temperature of the measured object,
A controller is provided to control the direction and magnitude of the current flowing through the Peltier element so that the detection result becomes the required temperature.

In this device, each of the temperature sensor, the Peltier element, and the radiation fin is applied, for example, in the same manner as described in the prior art, the temperature sensor is inserted into the syringe, and one surface of the Peltier element is connected to the syringe. By affixing to the outer peripheral surface, and radiating fins attached to the other surface of the Peltier element, the radiating fins are surrounded by a housing that defines a refrigerant passage, so that the temperature of the liquid material in the syringe is reduced. For the purpose of lowering the temperature to the required temperature, if the syringe attachment surface of the Peltier element is a heat absorbing surface and the opposing surface to which the radiating fins are attached is a heat generating surface, a liquid or By flowing a refrigerant that can be gaseous and ensuring rapid heat removal from the radiating fins, heat radiation from the radiating fins is reduced to the outside air temperature. Without being sound, can always be carried out with high efficiency, it is therefore the accumulation of heat to the heat radiation fins, and thus, it is possible to sufficiently prevent the runaway of the Peltier element caused thereby.

Further, in this case, since the refrigerant flows through the refrigerant passage surrounded by the housing and removes heat from the radiating fins, the flow does not bring up dust and the like in the atmosphere and the like. There is no possibility that the discharge nozzle and the work mounted on the syringe are contaminated by dust or the like. In other words, the quantitative discharge of the liquid material is always performed accurately, and the shape of the liquid material applied to the work is always as expected.

By the way, when the temperature sensor and the Peltier element are connected via a controller in which required temperature conditions are inputted in advance, it is possible to automatically perform high-precision temperature control. .

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which parts similar to those described in the related art are designated by the same reference numerals. That is, in FIG.
Denotes a liquid material, 2 denotes a syringe as a container for temporarily storing the liquid material, 3 denotes a temperature sensor inserted into the liquid material, and 4 denotes one of the surfaces attached to the outer peripheral surface of the syringe 2. The attached Peltier device 5 is a controller interposed between the temperature sensor 3 and the Peltier device 4. Reference numeral 6 denotes a radiation fin mounted on the other surface of the Peltier device 4.

Here, these components function in the same manner as described above for cooling and heating the liquid material 1 in the syringe as required. Here, the heat radiation fins 6 are further surrounded by the housing 11, so that the refrigerant passages 12 are defined inside the housings 11, and the refrigerant passages 12 are formed by refrigerant supply means, for example, a compressor 13
And connected to the refrigerant discharge passage 14 to expand the volume of, for example, the compressed air supplied from the compressor 13 in the refrigerant passage 13 so as to remove the heat from the radiation fins 6. Through the discharge path 14, it can be released far enough from the syringe to the atmosphere.

According to this, under the action of the controller 5, the radiation fins 6 are fed from the compressor 13 by the Peltier element 4, particularly when the heat is absorbed from the syringe 2 and finally the liquid 1 inside the syringe 2. With the expansion of the compressed air, cooling can be performed steadily irrespective of the outside air temperature, so that the risk of runaway of the Peltier element 4 due to the radiation fins 6 not being able to effectively radiate heat is reliably eliminated. can do. On the other hand,
This cooling of the radiating fins 6 is performed in a closed space including the refrigerant passage 13, and the compressed air as the refrigerant does not agitate the outside air or cause dust or the like to fly up. In addition, it is possible to sufficiently prevent the work from adhering to the liquid material application surface, thereby maintaining high precision in the quantitative discharge of the liquid material 1 and ensuring that the application shape of the liquid material 1 is always as expected. it can. by the way,
Here, a gas or liquid other than compressed air can be used as the refrigerant, provided that the radiation fins 6 can be effectively cooled.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, in particular, there is provided a housing which surrounds the radiating means provided in the Peltier element and defines a refrigerant passage, and the refrigerant supplied to the refrigerant passage is used regardless of the outside air temperature. Instead, by forcibly cooling the heat radiating means constantly as expected, it is possible to sufficiently remove the heat stored in the heat radiating means and, consequently, the risk of runaway of the Peltier element. The shielding prevents unnecessary flow of the dust and the like, soaring and the like, and lowers the quantitative discharge accuracy due to the adhesion of the dust and the like to the discharge nozzle and the work;
It is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of disorder in the application shape of the liquid material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid material 2 Syringe 3 Temperature sensor 4 Peltier element 5 Controller 6 Radiation fin 11 Housing 12 Refrigerant passage 13 Compressor 14 Refrigerant discharge path

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A temperature sensor, a Peltier element for cooling or heating an object to be measured based on a detection result of the temperature sensor, a heat radiating means attached to the Peltier element, and a refrigerant passage surrounding the heat radiating means. A temperature control device comprising a housing. 2. A controller for comparing a detection result of a temperature sensor with a required temperature of an object to be measured, and controlling a direction and a magnitude of a current flowing through the Peltier element so that the detection result becomes a required temperature. The temperature control device according to claim 1, wherein