JP2009045557A - Centrifugal separator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a centrifugal separator with a simple structure which can suppress the generation of radiant heat and an air current from a controller part. <P>SOLUTION: In the centrifugal separator 1 provided with a rotor 120 rotating with a sample to be separated supported, a chamber 101 housing the rotor 120, a refrigerator cooling the chamber 101, driving parts 130, 140 rotationally-driving the rotor 120, and the controller part 200 rotationally-controlling the driving parts 130, 140 and the refrigerator, the controller part 200 is of a closed structure and a water cooling refrigerator is housed in the controller part 200. Cooling water 220 is introduced or, discharged, from the above controller part 200 to the water cooling refrigerator. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a centrifuge that centrifuges a sample by rotating a rotor in the rotor chamber while cooling the rotor chamber with a refrigerator.

  In general, a centrifuge is a device for separating particles that do not settle or hardly settle in a normal gravitational field, and viruses, fungus bodies, and the like are also included in the separation target. Viruses and fungi are often harmful to normal humans, but they are indispensable raw materials for the production of drugs and vaccines. In these production processes, these raw materials are separated and purified. A continuous ultracentrifuge is often used.

  By the way, in order to prevent contamination of the sample with floating bacteria in the outside air and the components in the sample from being diffused into the outside air and contaminating, Patent Document 1 discloses that the sample and the outside air are sealed off and sterilized. A continuous centrifuge capable of performing general and effective steam sterilization has been proposed.

In Patent Document 2, the safety of workers is secured, and the room in which the apparatus is installed is a partition wall for the purpose of preventing temperature rise and contamination by a refrigerator or a fan provided in the control unit. The device room is divided into a control room, a drive unit other than the control unit is installed in the device room, a control device unit is installed in the control room, and the piping and electrical wiring that connect them are airtight in the partition A configuration for penetrating the slab is proposed.
Japanese Patent No. 2112401 JP 2005-118689 A

  By the way, the continuous ultracentrifuge is often installed in a clean room because of the nature of the sample to be handled. In recent years, the level of clean rooms has been increasing, the degree of cleanliness has been increasing, and the cleanliness and low heat generation of equipment used in cleanrooms are becoming essential conditions. As disclosed in Patent Document 1, as well as preventing contamination by contamination of the sample and diffusion of components in the sample, gas flow and heat dissipation from the continuous ultracentrifuge itself to the clean room is prevented. It is desirable that the structure be suppressed as much as possible.

  In particular, since the refrigerator provided in the control unit is air-cooled, the temperature in the clean room rises due to heat dissipation from the condenser (release of the condensation heat of the refrigerant), or fine particles are generated in the clean room due to the airflow from the fan. There is a problem that the degree of cleanliness is reduced due to diffusion.

  In Patent Document 2, since the control device unit is installed in a room different from the room in which the other drive units and the like are installed, the control device unit is connected to the control device unit by piping or electric wiring penetrating the partition wall. There is a problem that it is necessary to connect a drive unit other than the above, and the construction is difficult, and the piping and electrical wiring become long.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a centrifuge capable of suppressing heat generation from the control device and generation of airflow with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a rotor that holds and rotates a sample to be separated, a rotor chamber that houses the rotor, a refrigerator that cools the rotor chamber, and the rotor that rotates. In a centrifuge provided with a drive unit for driving, and a control unit for driving and controlling the drive unit and the refrigerator, the control unit has a hermetically sealed structure to release gas and release heat from the inside of the control unit. It is characterized by being suppressed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor of the refrigerator built in the control unit is cooled with water.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, cooling water is introduced into and discharged from the outside of the control unit with respect to the refrigerator.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the control device is cooled by circulating the cooling water in the control device.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a filter is provided at an exhaust port of a vacuum pump built in the control unit.

  According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, since the control device section has a sealed structure and a water-cooled refrigerator is built in the control device section, cooling water is introduced into the water-cooled refrigerator from outside the control device section. In addition, the heat radiation from the control unit having a built-in water-cooled refrigerator can be suppressed. In addition, since the water-cooled refrigerator is not provided with an air cooling fan for cooling the refrigerant compressed by the compressor of the refrigerator, no air flow is generated by the fan, and the diffusion of fine particles due to the air current is suppressed, and the centrifugal A high degree of cleanliness is ensured in the room where the separator is installed.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the cooling water is circulated in the control device section to cool the control device section, so that the drive section and the like that becomes high temperature during the rotation of the rotor is cooled by the cooling water, and the temperature The rise is suppressed and heat dissipation from the control unit is suppressed.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, since the filter is provided at the exhaust port of the vacuum pump built in the control unit, the exhaust from the vacuum pump is purified by the filter, and the cleanliness of the room in which the centrifuge is installed Is increased.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a centrifuge 1 according to the present invention. The illustrated centrifuge 1 is a continuous ultracentrifuge, which is composed of a centrifuge 100 and a control device 200. The separation unit 100 and the control device unit 200 are connected by a wiring / piping group 300. The centrifuge 1 is installed in the clean room 50, and cooling water 220 is supplied to the control unit 200 from the outside of the clean room 50, and the cooling water circulates inside the control unit 200 and then to the outside of the clean room 50. Discharged.

  The centrifugal separator 100 is roughly divided into a cylindrical chamber 101 that becomes a centrifugal chamber, a base 110 that supports the chamber 101, a rotor 120 that is freely inserted into and removed from the chamber 101, and rotates at high speed. The lower bearing is composed of a drive unit 130 that is attached to the upper plate 104 disposed on the upper side of the rotor 120 and rotationally drives the rotor 120 in a suspended state, and a bearing unit that is attached to the lower side of the chamber 101. Part 140 and a lift 150 for moving the upper drive part 130 in the vertical and longitudinal directions.

  Next, details of the configuration of the centrifugal separator 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the centrifugal separator 100 (excluding the lift 150). As shown in the figure, the chamber 101 accommodates the rotor 120 suspended from the drive unit 130 therein. A cylindrical evaporator (evaporating pipe) 102 is installed so as to cover the periphery of the rotor 120, and a cylindrical protector 103 is installed outside the evaporator 102.

  The evaporator 102 is composed of a copper pipe that circulates refrigerant gas for the purpose of cooling the interior of the chamber 101, and the latent heat of vaporization when the refrigerant evaporates in the course of flowing through the copper pipe is taken away from the chamber 101. The inside of the chamber 101 is cooled. In addition, a temperature sensor 105 (see FIG. 4) is attached to the inside of the chamber 101, and the control device unit 200 controls the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the evaporator 102 so that the internal temperature of the chamber 101 becomes a set temperature. To control.

  Since the rotor 120 is driven to rotate at a high speed, the inside of the chamber 101 is kept in a vacuum state during centrifugation for the purpose of suppressing heat generation due to windage loss and frictional heat, and the air in the chamber 101 is discharged. A discharge port is provided in the body of the chamber 101, and a vacuum sensor (not shown) for measuring the degree of vacuum in the chamber 101 is attached.

  Even if the rotor 120 is broken for some reason while the rotor 120 is rotating, the protector 103 is kept inside the chamber 101 without the fragments or the sample jumping outside. It is installed to hold and acts as a protective wall.

  The base 110 is fixed to the chamber 101 by a plurality of bolts 111 and nuts 112, and is also fixed to the floor on which the centrifuge 1 is installed by bolts.

  The rotor 120 includes a cylindrical rotor body 121 and upper and lower rotor covers 122 attached to the upper and lower sides of the rotor body 121 by screwing. Here, a sample passage hole is formed at the center of the upper and lower rotor covers 122, and the upper shaft 132 and the lower shaft 141 are attached to each rotor cover 122 by screwing. A sample passage hole passes through each of the shaft centers of the upper shaft 132 and the lower shaft 141, and these sample passage holes communicate with the sample passage hole formed in the rotor cover 122.

  In addition, a core 123 that can be taken in and out is arranged inside the rotor 120. When performing centrifugation, the sample injected from either the lower shaft 141 or the upper shaft 132 passes through the sample passage hole. The sample introduced into the rotor 120 is moved to a high centrifugal force field by the core 123 to be separated into a precipitate and a supernatant, and the supernatant is discharged from the other sample passage hole. .

  The upper plate 104 on which the drive unit 130 is disposed is attached to a lift 150 and can move in the vertical and front-rear directions. The drive unit 130 includes a motor unit 131, the upper shaft 132, and a bearing unit. , The seal portion 133 and the like. The rotor cover 122 is fitted to the lower end portion of the upper shaft 132 so as to be attachable. That is, the rotor 120 is suspended from the drive unit 130.

  Thus, when the rotor 120 is attached to or removed from the drive unit 130, the lift 150 is operated to move the upper drive unit 130 forward to perform the work. Further, when the centrifugal separation is performed, the lift 150 is operated to move the rotor 120 so as to be accommodated in the chamber 101. In this state, the upper plate 104 disposed at the lower end of the drive unit 130 and the upper end surface of the chamber 101 are fitted and sealed, and thereby the vacuum chamber in the chamber 101 can be evacuated.

  The lower bearing portion 140 includes a bearing portion for the lower shaft 141 attached to the lower end side rotor cover 122 of the rotor 120, a seal portion 142, and the like.

  By the way, since both the drive part 130 and the lower bearing part 140 rotate at high speed and become high temperature, the coolant liquid 161 is circulated through them to be cooled. Further, the tips of the upper shaft 132 and the lower shaft 141 are in contact with the seal portion 142, and since these are also high in temperature, the cooling water 162 is circulated and cooled.

  Next, the control device unit 200 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the control device unit 200 with the upper and front covers removed. The control device unit 200 includes a refrigerator (not shown) and a drive device 130 for cooling the entire centrifuge chamber inside the chamber 101. (Motor) Refrigerator (not shown) for cooling the tank 205 in which the coolant liquid for cooling and seal cooling water are accommodated, the vacuum pump 202 for evacuating the centrifuge chamber inside the chamber 101, the drive unit 130, and the rotor Lift drive device 203 for moving 120 to a predetermined place, liquid feed pump (not shown) for feeding motor cooling coolant and seal cooling water, tank 205 containing motor cooling coolant and seal cooling water, An operation panel 211 as a user interface, an electric control unit 212 including a motor drive circuit, an input / output circuit, and a CPU circuit are incorporated. There. The refrigerator includes a compressor for compressing the refrigerant and condensers 201A and 201B for cooling and liquefying the high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor, and the refrigerant flowing through the condensers 201A and 201B is The liquid is cooled and condensed by the cooling water 220 supplied to each of the condensers 201A and 201B and liquefied.

  By the way, as described above, since the centrifuge 1 is installed in the clean room 50, the control unit 200 is provided with an upper cover not shown in FIG. And the front cover is attached to make the case a sealed structure.

  As described above, when the control unit 200 has a sealed structure, an important point is how to dissipate heat and exhaust air from each of the devices incorporated therein. The method will be described below.

  Since the condensers 201A and 201B are heated by their own heat and the condensation heat of the gas-phase refrigerant during operation, they must actively dissipate heat. As a method of dissipating heat, a method of cooling the main body and radiator by blowing air with a cooling fan (air-cooled refrigerator) is generally used. This type of air-cooled refrigerator is enclosed in a sealed enclosure. It cannot be installed in the body.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a water-cooled refrigerator that radiates these heats using cooling water is employed as the refrigerator. Here, the cooling structure of the chamber 101 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the cooling structure of the chamber 101. As shown in FIG. 4, the electric control unit 212 operates the temperature in the chamber 101 measured by the temperature sensor 105 attached to the inside of the chamber 101. The condenser ON / OFF is controlled so as to match the temperature set on the panel 211. Of course, since the condenser 201A itself generates heat, the cooling water 220 is used for heat dissipation. The cooling water 220 is continuously supplied from the outside of the clean room 50 to the control device unit 200, cools the condenser 201A, and is discharged to the outside of the clean room 50 again.

  Further, the control unit 200 incorporates the condenser 201B for cooling the coolant 161 and the seal cooling water 162 as described above. The condenser 201B is also externally provided in the same manner as the condenser 201A. The cooling water 220 is used to cool the condenser 201B itself.

  By the way, if the cooling water 220 supplied from the outside has a cooling capacity equal to or higher than that of the coolant liquid 161 and the seal cooling water 162, the refrigerator is removed, and the cooling water 220 is removed from the coolant liquid 161 and the seal cooling water 162. Instead, it can be directly supplied to the centrifugal separator 100.

  The cooling water 220 supplied from the outside of the clean room 50 can be used not only for cooling the condenser but also for the purpose of cooling the entire control unit 200. In addition to the condensers 201A and 201B, there are, for example, a vacuum pump 202, a lift drive device 203, and the like as a heat source in addition to the condensers 201A and 201B, and these are also cooled by circulating cooling water 220 around them. It is possible.

  On the other hand, the inside of the chamber 101 is kept in a vacuum state by the operation of the vacuum pump 202 built in the control unit 200. FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the vacuum structure.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a filter 230 is attached to the exhaust port of the vacuum pump 202 in order to evacuate from the sealed control unit 200, and the filter 230 is evacuated to the outside of the clean room 50.

  As described above, in the centrifugal separator 1 according to the present invention, the control device unit 200 has a sealed structure, and the water cooling refrigerators (condensers 201A and 201B) are built in the control device unit 200. The cooling water 220 can be introduced into and discharged from the outside of the control unit 200 with respect to the type refrigerator (condensers 201A and 201B), and the control unit 200 including the water-cooled type refrigerators (condensers 201A and 201B). Heat dissipation from the can be suppressed.

  In addition, since the condensers 201A and 201B are not provided with an air cooling fan, no air flow is generated by the fan, the diffusion of fine particles due to the air current is suppressed, and the clean room 50 in which the centrifugal separator 1 is installed is highly clean. The degree is secured.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the filter 230 is provided at the exhaust port of the vacuum pump 202 built in the control unit 200, the exhaust from the vacuum pump 202 is purified by the filter 230, and the centrifuge 1 is installed. The cleanliness of the clean room 50 is increased.

1 is a perspective view of a centrifuge according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the centrifuge part of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view of the control apparatus part of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the cooling structure of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the evacuation structure of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Centrifuge 50 Clean room 100 Centrifuge part 101 Chamber 102 Evaporator 103 Protector 104 Upper plate 105 Temperature sensor 110 Base 111 Bolt 112 Nut 120 Rotor 121 Rotor body 122 Rotor cover 123 Core 130 Drive part 131 Motor part 132 Upper shaft 133 Seal part 140 Lower bearing portion 141 Lower shaft 142 Seal portion 150 Lift 161 Coolant liquid 162 Cooling water 200 Control device portion 201A Condenser 201B Condenser 202 Vacuum pump 203 Lift drive device 204 Liquid feed pump 205 Tank 211 Operation panel 212 Electric control portion 220 Cooling Water 230 Filter 300 Wiring / Piping group

Claims (5)

A rotor that holds and rotates a sample to be separated, a rotor chamber that houses the rotor, a refrigerator that cools the rotor chamber, a drive unit that rotationally drives the rotor, and a drive unit that drives the drive unit and the refrigerator In a centrifuge equipped with a control unit for controlling,
A centrifugal separator characterized in that the control device section has a hermetically sealed structure, and the release and release of gas from the control device section are suppressed.   The centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant compressed by a compressor of a refrigerator built in the control unit is cooled with water.   The centrifuge according to claim 2, wherein cooling water is introduced into and discharged from the outside of the control unit with respect to the refrigerator.   4. The centrifuge according to claim 3, wherein the control device is cooled by circulating the cooling water in the control device. The centrifuge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a filter is provided at an exhaust port of a vacuum pump built in the control unit.

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