JP2007014834A - Centrifuge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a centrifuge surely preventing scattering of broken pieces of periphery member of a rotor member or a rotor chamber to the outside of the machine even if the rotor should break during operation (rotating). <P>SOLUTION: In the centrifuge equipped with a door packing 21 provided between a door 4 and an opening part 15 of the rotor chamber 3 along a periphery edge part 15a of the opening part, an elastic body member 24 suppressing the deformation of the door packing 21 is inserted in hollow part 22a of the door packing 21 along the periphery edge part 15a of the opening part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure for more completely ensuring safety of a centrifuge with respect to a rotor, and more particularly to a structure of a door packing for sealing a door for opening and closing a rotor chamber.

  In the centrifuge, the rotor (rotary body) in which the sample to be separated is held via a tube or bottle is accommodated in the rotor chamber (rotary chamber), and the opening of the rotor chamber is sealed by a door. By rotating the rotor at high speed using a driving device such as a motor, the sample held in the rotor is separated and purified. The rotational speed of the rotor varies depending on the application and ranges from a relatively low speed with a maximum speed of several thousand revolutions per minute (rpm) to a high speed with a maximum speed of about 150,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). A product family with rotational speed is generally provided.

  In such a centrifuge, the rotor, which is a rotating body, rotates at a high speed. Therefore, if the rotor breaks down, a large breaking energy is generated, and the rotor itself does not stop, but the sample container member such as a tube mounted on the rotor. Or, peripheral members such as a door member or a heat insulating member surrounding the rotor are assumed to be broken and scattered.

  For this reason, the international standard “IEC61010-2-020” is required, which requires ensuring the safety of the centrifuge. According to this international standard, the largest possible accident is to select the rotor with the highest rotational energy at the time of high speed rotation from among the various rotors used in the subject centrifuge, and the rotor with the highest rotational energy. When it is intentionally broken in half in the operating state, debris scattered outside the centrifuge from the centrifuge housing and door gaps, etc., has a predetermined distance (300 mm) in all directions from the centrifuge. It is obliged to take safety measures so that a small piece of a predetermined size (2 mm) or less is within the clearance envelope that is spaced apart. In order to ensure the so-called safety, the restriction of debris which is scattered from the casing or door of the centrifuge to the outer periphery by breaking the rotor is defined.

  Conventionally, the rotor itself is designed to have a predetermined thickness or more so as not to cause a breakage due to rotational energy. However, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, as a means for containing the breakage energy generated when the rotor breaks by any chance, A structure that absorbs a large amount of scattered energy by providing a protector (protective wall) such as a steel material on the outer periphery of the rotor chamber is generally employed. In a centrifuge that handles a biological sample as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a cooling pipe that directly cools the rotor chamber is wound around the outer periphery to cool the rotor, and the outer periphery is a heat insulating member such as a foam material. Adopt a structure that is hermetically sealed to prevent heat dissipation or condensation. For this reason, a protector is further arrange | positioned in the outermost periphery, The thickness and the arrangement | positioning method in a housing | casing are designed according to the magnitude | size of the rotational energy of a rotor. Also, in the unlikely event that the rotor breaks down, an automatic lock mechanism that prevents the door from opening during rotation is installed to prevent debris, etc. in the rotor chamber from scattering outside the centrifuge. Measures such as providing a dome-shaped part on the room side are taken.

JP 2002-336738 A

  On the other hand, the door for opening and closing the rotor chamber is provided for taking in and out a predetermined rotor or a sample to be centrifuged. Generally, a rubber-like door packing is provided between the door and the opening of the rotor chamber in order to seal the rotor chamber from the outside air. The door packing has a hollow ring structure formed along the peripheral edge of the opening so as to be easily deformed and closely adhered to the opening of the rotor chamber when the door is closed.

  However, as in the case of the above-mentioned accident, the rotor during high-speed operation is destroyed, and fragments of peripheral members such as a rotor member, a sample container member, or a door member or a heat insulating member surrounding the rotor directly hit the door by the breaking energy of the rotor. Then, the door packing is crushed by the pressure at the time of destruction (wind pressure), a gap is generated between the door and the door packing, and minute fragments may jump out of the rotor chamber.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem, and even if the rotor breaks during operation (rotation), a minute piece (for example, a piece of 2 mm or less) of a rotor member or a peripheral member of the rotor chamber. Even so, an object of the present invention is to provide a centrifuge that reliably prevents scattering outside the apparatus.

  Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, typical features will be described as follows.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a housing, a motor mounted in the housing, a rotor mounted in the housing, rotated by the motor and holding a sample container to be separated, and the housing A rotor chamber partitioned by a partition member in the body, the rotor chamber containing the rotor and having an opening on the upper surface side of the housing, and the opening of the rotor chamber being closed and freely openable And a door packing provided along the peripheral edge of the opening between the door and the opening of the rotor chamber. An elastic member that suppresses elastic deformation of the door packing is inserted into the portion.

  According to another feature of the present invention, the elastic member is configured so that when the compression force is applied to the door packing, the hollow portion of the door packing is prevented so that the door packing does not deform more than necessary. The outer diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the part.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the elastic member is a coil made of a spring steel material.

  According to still another feature of the present invention, the elastic member is a member made of synthetic rubber or synthetic resin material and harder than the door packing.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the partition member is constituted by a bowl-shaped member made of a metal material.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a housing, a motor mounted in the housing, a rotor mounted in the housing, rotated by the motor, and holding a sample container to be separated; A rotor chamber partitioned by a partition member within the housing, the rotor chamber housing the rotor and having an opening on the upper surface side of the housing, and closing and opening and closing the opening of the rotor chamber In the centrifuge provided with a door provided freely and a door packing provided along a peripheral edge of the opening between the door and the opening of the rotor chamber, the door packing is The base elastic layer is formed of a hard base elastic layer and a soft surface elastic layer softer than the base layer.

  According to the present invention, even if the rotor of the centrifuge is broken during rotation, the door packing is composed of a two-layer structure of a hard base elastic layer and a soft surface elastic layer. It functions to prevent the door packing from being deformed or crushed by pressure (wind pressure) generated at the time of destruction, and to prevent a gap from being generated between the opening / closing door of the rotor chamber and the door packing. Thereby, scattering of the fragment to the outside of the centrifuge can be prevented. On the other hand, during normal rotor rotation, the degree of sealing of the door can be improved by deformation of the soft surface elastic body layer of the door packing.

  The above and other objects, and the above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiments, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an overall configuration of a centrifuge according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of the centrifuge shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a centrifuge shown in FIG. It is the elements on larger scale (perspective view) of the door packing used for.

  The overall configuration of the centrifuge according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The centrifuge 30 includes a housing (frame) 1 having a substantially square cross-sectional shape when viewed from above, and an aluminum alloy or titanium for holding a sample container such as a tube (not shown) inside the housing 1. A rotor 2 made of an alloy, a motor 5 for applying a rotational driving force to the rotor 2, and a rotor chamber (rotary chamber) 3 for housing the rotor 2, and a rotor chamber formed in the housing 1 A door 4 is rotatably attached to the housing 1 via a hinge 14 at an upper opening 15 (opening / closing part) 3. The door 4 is controlled by the action of the door lock device 13 so as not to open the rotor chamber 3 while the rotor 2 is rotating. Further, the centrifuge 30 has a control device (microcomputer) 16 for performing on / off control and rotation speed control of the motor 5 and for controlling the door lock device 13 according to the rotation of the motor 5. Is provided. Furthermore, the upper surface of the housing 1 is provided with an operation panel 17 and a display panel (monitor) 18 for setting (inputting) data such as the rotational speed of the rotor 2 and the time for centrifugation. 17 and the display panel 18 are electrically connected to the control device 16, input data to the control device 16, and display data from the control device 16.

  The rotor chamber 3 is partitioned by, for example, a bowl (partition member) 7 made of a stainless steel material, and a spiral cooling pipe (pipe) 6 is disposed on the outer periphery of the bowl 7. A cylindrical casing 9 filled with a member (foaming material) 8 is installed, and these partition members 7, 6, 8 and 9 are mounted integrally. Thereby, the temperature rise at the time of rotation of the rotor 2 installed in the rotor chamber 3 is cooled, and the rotor chamber 3 is configured to be sealed from the outside air by the partition member 7 and the door 4. Further, a protector (protective wall) 10 made of, for example, a steel material that absorbs fracture energy when the rotor 2 is broken is mounted on the outer peripheral portion of the partition member (7, 6, 8, and 9).

  The motor 5 is composed of, for example, a three-phase induction motor that is started by a three-phase AC power supply of 300 V, and can give the rotor 2 high-speed rotation such as 22,000 rpm. The rotor 2 is detachably attached to the rotating shaft of the electric motor 5. In accordance with the specification for centrifugal separation, the door 4 is opened and closed so that the rotor 2 can be replaced.

  According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral portion 15a of the opening 15 of the rotor chamber 3 for taking in and out the rotor 2 and a sample container (not shown) mounted on the rotor is made of an elastic material. A door packing 21 is provided, and the opening 15 is more securely sealed by the door 4 by crushing the door packing 21 with the door 4. The overall structure of the door packing 21 is shown in the perspective view of FIG. The door packing 21 includes a first-stage cylindrical ring portion 22 sandwiched between the door and the opening, and a second-stage cylindrical ring portion 23 surrounded by the casing portions 1a, 1b, and 1c (see FIG. 2). Are integrally formed continuously in the vertical direction. In the door packing 21 shown in FIG. 3, the first-stage cylindrical ring portion 22 and the second-stage cylindrical ring portion 23 are cut so as to expose a part of a ring-shaped coil 24 described later. In the door packing 21 actually used, the first-stage cylindrical ring portion 22 and the second-stage cylindrical ring portion 23 are connected in a ring shape so as to completely cover the ring-shaped coil 24.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the coil 24 is inserted into the hollow portion 22 a of the first-stage cylindrical ring portion 22 sandwiched between the doors 4. The cylindrical ring portion 22 employs a normal packing made of a relatively soft elastic material such as a synthetic rubber material, and functions as a surface elastic layer. On the other hand, the coil 24 inserted into the hollow portion 22a of the cylindrical ring portion 22 uses a coil made of a well-known spring steel (a high carbon steel containing Mn, Cr, V, B), and the above It functions as an elastic body member (base elastic body layer) harder than the cylindrical ring portion (surface elastic body layer) 22. The outer diameter of the coil 24 to be inserted is set to be smaller than the inner diameter of the cylindrical ring portion 22, so that even if a compressive force is applied to the door packing 21, the door packing 21 is crushed to a certain state. And can be deformed. That is, in the normal opening and closing of the door 4, when the door 4 is closed and the cylindrical ring portion 22 of the door packing 21 is crushed by the door 4, the amount of crushing (door packing) by the coil (hard elastic member) 24 Can be limited to the required amount, and can have the same function as the conventional door packing. On the other hand, if the rotor 2 breaks during rotation, a large breaking energy due to wind pressure (blast) generated at the time of breaking tries to deform the door 4 and the door packing 21 (particularly the cylindrical ring portion 22). Since the coil 24 is inserted into the door packing 21, deformation (crushing deformation) of the door packing 21 is suppressed. This eliminates the occurrence of a gap between the door 4 and the door packing 21 (especially the cylindrical ring portion 22), and prevents the above-described fragments of the rotor member or the peripheral member of the rotor chamber from being scattered outside the machine. be able to. The door packing 21 of the above-described embodiment has a second-stage cylindrical ring portion 23 that is continuous with the first-stage cylindrical ring portion 22 in the vertical direction, and the second-stage cylindrical ring portion 23 includes Although the coil is not inserted, the second-stage ring portion 23 is surrounded and held by the casing portion 1a and the upper end surface 7a of the bowl 7, as shown in FIG. Since the eye ring portions 22 and 23 are integrally connected to each other by the side surface portion 25 of the door packing 21, they are not crushed when the rotor is broken.

  In the above embodiment, the coiled ring 24 is inserted into the hollow portion 22a of the cylindrical ring portion 22 of the door packing 21, but other synthetic rubber or synthetic resin harder than the cylindrical packing 22 is used instead of the coil 24. The elastic member 24 may be inserted into a rod-shaped ring (single core ring) or filled into the hollow portion 22a.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the cross-sectional shape of the surface elastic body layer 22 of the door packing 21 was made into O shape, you may shape | mold the cross-sectional shape in V shape or U shape. In this case, the hard elastic body member 24 is formed as a base elastic body layer of the V-shaped or U-shaped surface elastic body layer 22.

  With the above configuration of the centrifuge, a normal centrifuge operation can be safely performed. Even if a rotor breakdown accident occurs, it is possible to prevent the rotor or peripheral members from being scattered outside the machine.

  As mentioned above, although the invention made | formed by this inventor was demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible within the range which does not deviate from the summary.

The whole sectional view of the centrifuge concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The principal part expanded sectional view of the centrifuge shown in FIG. The perspective view of the door packing used for the centrifuge shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1: Housing (frame) 1a: Housing (local) 2: Rotor 3: Rotor chamber (rotating chamber) 4: Door 5: Motor 6: Cooling pipe (pipe) 7: Bowl 7a: Upper end surface 8 of bowl: Thermal insulation member (foam material) 9: Casing 10: Protector (protective wall)
13: Door lock device 14: Hinge 15: Opening (opening / closing part)
15a: Peripheral part of the opening 16: Control device 17: Operation panel 18: Display panel (monitor) 21: Door packing 22: Cylindrical ring part (surface elastic body layer) 22a: Hollow part (inside)
23: Second stage cylindrical ring portion 24: Hard elastic body member (base elastic body layer) or coil 25: Side surface portion of door packing 30: Centrifuge

Claims (8)

A housing, a motor mounted in the housing, a rotor mounted in the housing, rotated by the motor and holding a sample container to be separated, and a rotor chamber partitioned by a partition member in the housing A rotor chamber that houses the rotor and has an opening on the upper surface side of the housing; a door that closes the opening of the rotor chamber and is openable; and the door; In the centrifuge provided with a door packing provided along the peripheral edge of the opening between the opening of the rotor chamber,
A centrifugal separator, wherein an elastic body member that suppresses elastic deformation of the door packing is inserted into a hollow portion of the door packing.   The elastic body member has an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the hollow portion of the door packing so that the door packing does not undergo elastic deformation more than necessary when a compressive force is applied to the door packing. The centrifuge according to claim 1.   The centrifuge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic member is a coil made of a spring steel material.   The centrifuge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic body member is a member made of synthetic rubber or a synthetic resin material and harder than the door packing.   The centrifuge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the partition member comprises a bowl-shaped member made of a metal material. A housing, a motor mounted in the housing, a rotor mounted in the housing, rotated by the motor and holding a sample container to be separated, and a rotor chamber partitioned by a partition member in the housing A rotor chamber that houses the rotor and has an opening on the upper surface side of the housing; a door that closes the opening of the rotor chamber and is openable; and the door; In the centrifuge provided with a door packing provided along the peripheral edge of the opening between the opening of the rotor chamber,
The centrifuge characterized in that the door packing is formed of a hard base elastic body layer and a soft surface elastic body layer softer than the base layer.   The base elastic body layer of the door packing is made of a coil of spring steel material, and the surface elastic body layer of the door packing is made of a soft synthetic rubber or a synthetic resin material. centrifuge. The base elastic body layer of the door packing is made of a hard synthetic rubber or a synthetic resin material, and the surface elastic body layer of the door packing is made of a soft synthetic rubber or a synthetic resin material. The described centrifuge.

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