JP2009082836A - Centrifuge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a centrifuge with a freezer (a compressor) which can freely establish a time during the compressor of the freezer cannot be turned on and the time until the compressor is turned off, when the centrifuge is operated. <P>SOLUTION: The centrifuge includes a driving part 4, a rotor 3 to be rotary driven by the driving part, a rotary room 5 receiving the rotor, a door 7 for opening/closing the rotary room, a cooling part 9 for cooling the rotary room and the rotor, a control part 6 for controlling the driving part and the cooling part, an operation part 2 with a switch for establishing an operation condition and operating the centrifuge 10, and a display part 1 for displaying the operation condition and an operation state, wherein the centrifuge has a means for displaying on the display part that the operation of the freezer in the cooling part is prohibited, or a function capable of establishing the time until the freezer in the cooling part is stopped after the door is opened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a centrifuge equipped with a refrigerator for centrifuging a sample by rotating a rotor in which the sample is inserted.

  A conventional centrifuge will be described with reference to FIGS. In this type of centrifuge 10, the user adjusts operating conditions such as rotational speed, operating time (separation time), temperature (set temperature), acceleration gradient, and deceleration gradient in accordance with the sample to be separated. Input from 2

  Then, the rotor 3 into which the sample has been inserted is set on the drive shaft 4a that is rotationally driven by the drive unit 4 protruding into the rotation chamber 5, the door 7 is closed, and the start switch of the operation unit 2 is pressed to rotate the rotor. Is driven to rotate.

  The rotor 3 is accelerated and set to the rotational speed set by the operation unit 2, and when the set operation time elapses, the rotation of the rotor 3 is automatically decelerated and stopped, and the separated sample is opened by opening the door 7. Remove from 3. After the door 7 is closed, the sample temperature in the rotor 3 can be maintained at the temperature set in the operation unit 2 after the start switch of the operation unit 2 is pushed and the door is opened after acceleration / settling / deceleration / stop. The temperature is controlled using a refrigerator.

  A type in which a refrigerator is circulated using a compressor (compressor 20) that is inexpensive and has a simple control method is generally used for the centrifugal separator 10. Temperature control (on / off control) is performed so that the compressor 20 is turned on / off and the sample temperature in the rotor 3 becomes the set temperature. However, when the compressor is turned on / off, if the time interval between switching from off to on is short, the motor for driving the compressor will fail to start and accurate temperature control will not be possible. Then, until the pressure on the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor becomes sufficiently small, it is necessary to set a time for prohibiting the compressor 20 from being turned on (operation) for about 1 to 3 minutes. Therefore, when the on-prohibition time (operation prohibition time) of the compressor 20 is set, the compressor 20 cannot be turned on (operated) until the prohibition time elapses even if the rotation of the rotor is started. It has become.

  In addition, in order to be able to control the sample temperature in the rotor to the set temperature more accurately than the on / off control, a path switching valve 22 is provided in the middle of the refrigerant path, and the switching valve 22 is set to a state where the compressor is always on (operation). There is also a method of controlling the temperature of the rotor by supplying the refrigerant to the refrigerant passage 26 wound around the outer periphery of the rotary chamber 5 by controlling (valve control) or by stopping the supply.

JP-A-7-110166

In the on / off control of the compressor 20 of the conventional centrifuge 10, when the centrifuge is stopped and the door 7 is open, the rotor 3 in the rotating chamber or the sample set in the rotor 3 Since the sample in the rotor in the rotation chamber 5 does not need to be cooled, the temperature control is stopped, the compressor is turned off, and the compressor on prohibition time is set.

  Further, the refrigerant path switching control is performed by the switching valve 22 while the compressor 20 of the refrigerator is always on, so that the door is opened while the rotary chamber 5 is stopped even in the valve control for cooling the inside of the rotating chamber 5. In this state, since it is not necessary to cool the sample in the rotor of the rotating chamber, the switching valve is turned off and the supply of the refrigerant to the refrigerant passage 26 wound around the outer periphery of the rotor chamber is stopped.

  However, the operation sound of the compressor 20 is loud, and it is also uneconomical to leave the compressor 20 in the on state. If the door remains open for a predetermined time, the centrifuge 10 is judged not to be used continuously, and the compressor 20 is turned off. Also at this time, the compressor-on prohibition time is set.

  When the compressor 20 is turned off and the compressor on prohibition time is set, when a sample precooled in a refrigerator or the like is set in the rotor 3 and the centrifuge 10 is operated at a high speed for a short time, the compressor 20 is immediately Since the sample temperature in the rotor 3 rises due to the windage loss due to the rotation of the rotor and the heat generation of the drive unit 4 that drives the rotation of the rotor, the sample becomes useless or accurate centrifugation is performed. It becomes impossible to do.

  Further, in the valve control, when the centrifuge is not used for a predetermined period of time while the door is stopped, the compressor 20 is turned off, and the timing of turning off the compressor 20 is determined. When the centrifuge is operated in a cycle, since the compressor on prohibition time is set, the compressor 20 cannot be turned on immediately, so that the sample temperature rises as described above.

In order to achieve the above object, a drive unit, a rotor that is rotationally driven by the drive unit, a rotation chamber that houses the rotor, a door that opens and closes the rotation chamber, and the rotation chamber and the rotor are cooled. A cooling unit, a control unit for controlling the driving unit and the cooling unit, an operation unit having a switch for setting operating conditions and operating a centrifuge, and display operating conditions and operating states In the centrifuge having the display unit for performing the operation, it can be achieved by displaying on the display unit that the refrigerator in the cooling unit is in an operation-inhibited state.

  Furthermore, a drive unit, a rotor that is rotationally driven by the drive unit, a rotating chamber that houses the rotor, a door that opens and closes the rotating chamber, a cooling unit that cools the rotating chamber and the rotor, A control unit for controlling the drive unit and the cooling unit, an operation unit having a switch for setting operation conditions and operating the centrifuge, and a display unit for displaying the operation conditions and the operation state In the centrifuge, this is achieved by providing a function capable of setting a time from when the door is opened to when the refrigerator in the cooling unit is stopped by the operation unit.

  Therefore, in a centrifuge equipped with a refrigerator (compressor), means for notifying the user of a state in which the compressor of the refrigerator cannot be turned on when the centrifuge is operated. Alternatively, there is provided a means capable of appropriately and freely setting the time from when the centrifuge is stopped and the door is opened to when the compressor of the refrigerator is turned off according to the purpose of use.

According to the present invention, when the centrifuge is operated, the centrifuge can be centrifuged from a state in which the inside of the rotating chamber 5 can be immediately cooled, and the sample in the rotor can always be centrifuged at an appropriate temperature. Separator can be provided.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the basic configuration of the centrifugal separator according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 is an overall view of the centrifuge, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the centrifuge, FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the centrifuge, and FIG. 4 is for valve control of the cooling unit 9 of the second embodiment. FIG.

A display unit 1 and an operation unit 2 are provided on the upper portion of the casing 8 of the centrifuge 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, and a rotating chamber 5 formed of a bowl 30 and a control unit are provided inside the casing. 6 and the cooling part 9 are accommodated.
Around the outer periphery of the bowl 30 forming the rotating chamber 5, a coolant path 26 for cooling the inside of the rotating chamber 5 and circulating the coolant in order to maintain the sample in the rotor 3 at a set temperature is wound. Further, a heat insulating material (not shown) is provided on the outer periphery of the refrigerant path 26 in order to improve the cooling efficiency. Further, the upper surface of the rotating chamber 5 is opened and closed by a door 7, a rotatable rotor 3 capable of storing a sample to be centrifuged is stored in the rotating chamber 5, and the temperature in the rotating chamber 5 is measured. There is a temperature sensor 11 for doing this.

  The temperature sensor 11 is adjusted to detect the same temperature as the sample temperature stored in the rotor 3. When the door 7 is opened, it is always biased to the open side by a door spring (not shown).

  The rotor 3 is driven by a drive unit 4, and the drive of the drive unit 4 is controlled by the control unit 6.

When the control unit 6 determines that the door 7 is closed by the door opening / closing detection sensor 12, the control unit 6 detects the temperature by using the temperature sensor 11 so that the temperature set by the operation unit 2 (set temperature) is reached, When the detected temperature is higher than the set temperature, the compressor 20 is controlled to cool the rotating chamber 5 with respect to the cooling unit 9. When the temperature of the temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature, the cooling chamber 5 is cooled with respect to the cooling unit 9. The compressor 20 is controlled not to perform.
5 and 6 will be described using an example of an LCD (liquid crystal display) that can display more information on the screen of the display unit 1 of the centrifuge to add various functions.
FIG. 5 shows a normal basic screen 100 that displays the operating state and operating conditions of the centrifuge 10, and the temperature display unit 101 of the basic screen 100 is the sample temperature display unit 102 in the upper part and the set temperature display part in the lower part. 103.

  FIG. 4 shows a basic screen 120 for notifying that the sample temperature rises when the centrifuge is operated during this period when the on-prohibition time (operation prohibition time) of the compressor 20 is set. Until the time elapses, “Disable” is displayed on the sample temperature display unit 121 and blinks. There is also a method in which “Disable” is displayed on the sample temperature display unit 121 and the entire basic screen 120 is blinked so that the sample temperature can be confirmed from a remote location. When the compressor on prohibition time has elapsed, the blinking of the basic screen 120 in FIG. 4 is terminated and the display state of the normal basic screen 100 is restored.

The control unit 6 manages the compressor on prohibition time, and counts down the prohibition time when the compressor on prohibition time is set.
Although the control method of the compressor 20 of the centrifuge 10 of the said Example demonstrated the case of on / off control, it cannot be overemphasized that the same effect is acquired even if it applies to the valve control mentioned later.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Since the basic structure of the centrifuge is the same as that of the first embodiment, only different parts will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for valve control of the cooling unit 9. In the valve control, when the control unit 6 determines that the door 7 is closed by the door opening / closing detection sensor 12 of FIG. 3, the control unit 6 turns on the compressor 20. If there is a signal for cooling from the control unit 6, the valve 22 is turned on, and the rotor chamber 5 is cooled so that the refrigerant flows into the refrigerant path 26 via the refrigerant path 25.

  In the case of a signal for stopping cooling, the valve 22 is turned off so that the refrigerant is returned from the refrigerant path 24 to the compressor 20 via the refrigerant path 28 so that the refrigerant does not flow into the refrigerant path 26. Do not cool 5.

  When the control unit 6 determines that the door 7 is opened by the door opening / closing detection sensor 12 when the operation of the centrifuge is finished and the door 7 is opened to take out the sample in the rotor 3, the cooling of the rotating chamber 5 is stopped. A signal is output, and the cooling unit 9 turns off the switching valve 22 (the compressor 20 remains on at this time).

Further, when the door 7 is opened for a certain time (about 10 minutes), it is determined that the centrifuge 10 is not used continuously, the compressor 20 is turned off, and the compressor on-prohibition time is set. .
The control unit 6 manages the compressor on prohibition time, and counts down the prohibition time when the compressor on prohibition time is set.

  FIG. 5 illustrates an example using an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that can display more information on the screen of the display unit of the centrifuge to add various functions.

  For example, if it takes 10 minutes to open the door 7 and the next set of samples to be centrifuged, the compressor 20 is turned off at the same time as the rotation of the centrifuge starts. Temperature rises and the sample becomes useless or cannot be accurately centrifuged.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, in the case of valve control, the time from when the centrifuge is stopped to when the door is closed and when the door is opened until the compressor is turned off is matched with the timing of the routine work. A setting screen 110 for inputting a setting time is shown, and the time is input in a setting box 111 in minutes and seconds. For example, if it takes 10 minutes to start the next centrifugation, the time until the compressor 20 of the refrigerator is stopped is set to 15 minutes, so that the rotation chamber immediately after starting the centrifugation is set. Since the inside of the rotor 5 can be cooled, an increase in the temperature of the rotor due to windage loss due to the rotation of the rotor can be suppressed.

Further, when the compressor is always kept on even when the door is open, “0 minute 0 second” is input.
The control unit 6 operates a timer when it is determined that the centrifuge is stopped and the door is opened from the closed state. When the timer reaches the time input in the setting box 111 of the setting screen 110, the compressor 20 is turned on. Turn off.
When “0 minute 0 second” in which the compressor is always on is input in the setting box 111, the control unit 6 does not turn off the compressor 20.
Secondly, the centrifugal separator according to the embodiment has been described in the case of the valve control of the cooling unit 9, but it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even in the case of the on / off control of the compressor 20.
As described above, according to the first embodiment, since the display unit can determine the state in which the compressor can be turned on, the centrifuge can be operated after the compressor can be turned on. The sample in the rotor can be controlled at an accurate temperature. Further, in the second embodiment, the operation of the compressor can be adjusted according to the convenience of the user of the centrifuge because the time until the centrifuge is stopped and the door is opened and the compressor is turned off can be freely set. This makes it possible to improve the usability of the centrifuge.

Overall view of centrifuge according to the present invention Perspective perspective view of a centrifuge according to the present invention. It is one Example of sectional drawing of the centrifuge concerning this invention. It is one Example of the schematic of the cooling part of the centrifuge of the 2nd Example concerning this invention. It is one Example of the screen which displays the driving | running state and operating condition of the centrifuge concerning this invention. It is one Example of the screen when the compressor on prohibition time of the centrifuge concerning this invention is set. It is one Example of the screen which inputs the compressor off time in the stop of the centrifuge of the 2nd Example concerning this invention in a door open state.

Explanation of symbols

1 is a display unit, 2 is an operation unit, 3 is a rotor, 4 is a drive unit, 5 is a rotating chamber, 6 is a control unit, 7 is a door,
8 is a centrifuge housing, 9 is a cooling unit, 10 is a centrifuge, 11 is a temperature sensor,
12 is a door open / close detection sensor, 20 is a compressor, 21 is a radiator, 22 is a switch (valve),
23 is a refrigerant path, 24 is a refrigerant path, 25 is a refrigerant path, 26 is a refrigerant path, 27 is a refrigerant path,
30 is a bowl, 100 is a screen for displaying the operating state and operating conditions of the centrifuge, 101 is a temperature display section,
102 is a sample temperature display section, 103 is a set temperature display section, 110 is a setting screen,
111 is a time setting box, 120 is a screen displaying the operating state and operating conditions of the centrifuge,
Reference numeral 121 denotes a sample temperature display section.

Claims (2)

A drive unit, a rotor that is rotationally driven by the drive unit, a rotation chamber that houses the rotor, a door that opens and closes the rotation chamber, a cooling unit that cools the rotation chamber and the rotor, and the drive unit And a control unit for controlling the cooling unit, an operation unit having a switch for setting operating conditions and operating the centrifuge, and a centrifuge having a display unit for displaying the operating conditions and the operating state In the machine
A centrifuge characterized by displaying on the display section that the refrigerator in the cooling section is in an operation-inhibited state. A drive unit, a rotor that is rotationally driven by the drive unit, a rotation chamber that houses the rotor, a door that opens and closes the rotation chamber, a cooling unit that cools the rotation chamber and the rotor, and the drive unit And a control unit for controlling the cooling unit, an operation unit having a switch for setting operating conditions and operating the centrifuge, and a centrifuge having a display unit for displaying the operating conditions and the operating state In the machine
The centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the operation unit is provided with a function of allowing a time from when the door is opened to when the refrigerator in the cooling unit is stopped.

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