JP2017012986A - Centrifugal machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a centrifugal machine which solves a problem that a user cannot check necessary information while a door is opened in a structure where a display part is disposed on the door.SOLUTION: A centrifugal machine includes: a rotor for holding a sample; a driving device which rotates the rotor; a housing bowl forming a rotor chamber which houses the rotor and having an opening through which the rotor is taken in/out; a frame which houses the bowl; a door which opens or closes the opening; and a display part which allows a user to input operation conditions and displays an operation state. A first display part is provided on an upper surface of the door, and the second display part is provided at the frame.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a centrifuge having a function for providing a user with necessary information about the operation of the centrifuge.

  A centrifuge injects a sample to be separated (for example, culture solution or blood) into a tube or bottle and inserts it into a rotor. By rotating the rotor at a high speed, centrifugal force is applied to the sample to separate and purify the sample. Do. The rotational speed varies depending on the application, and a product group ranging from a low speed (several thousand revolutions per minute) to a high speed (150,000 revolutions per minute) is commercially available. In addition, small centrifuges to large centrifuges are lined up so that the volume of samples that can be separated at a time can be handled from as little as several tens of ml to as large as several liters. Since centrifuges used in laboratories and laboratories are a relatively large class of laboratory equipment, users are demanding miniaturization. In particular, among the centrifuges, large-scale centrifuges have a prominent area compared to small ones, and this tendency is remarkable.

  The display unit of the centrifuge displays the operating conditions such as the type of rotor, the number of revolutions, and the operating time, and provides information necessary for the user to operate the centrifuge. In addition, there is an operation unit for the user to set operating conditions, and the operation unit is often near the display unit. In some cases, the operation unit and the display unit are integrated by using a touch panel type liquid crystal for the display unit. These display unit and operation unit are desirably located on the front side of the centrifuge body for visibility and operability. In addition, it is desired to enlarge the display part to some extent in order to improve visibility and secure the amount of information to be displayed. In particular, in the case of a large centrifuge, when the operation unit is arranged on the rear side of the centrifuge, the operability is greatly reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to arrange the display unit and the operation unit on the front side of the centrifuge. On the other hand, since the size of the rotor is large in a large centrifuge, if the display unit and the operation unit are arranged in front of the main body, the distance to the rotor is increased, and the operability related to sample relocation is lowered. As a configuration for ensuring the operability of such a large centrifuge, it is conceivable to arrange the display unit and the operation unit on the centrifuge door (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-34724 A

Due to the recent trend of digitization and the spread of the touch panel type, the size of the display unit has been increased more than before. In a centrifuge having a display unit on the door, the user can access the rotor chamber without disturbing the display unit, but the display unit cannot be confirmed at the same time when the rotor chamber is opened. On the other hand, in a centrifuge, there are cases where it is desired to confirm the conditions of the last operation from the point of operation records. In addition, there are cases where it is desired to check the set conditions when the sample is replaced. In some cases, it may be desired to check the error content while performing work in the rotor chamber by displaying an error related to the rotor chamber. In such a case, the centrifuge having the display unit on the door has a problem that it is necessary to check the display unit by closing the door.

The characteristics of representative ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be described as follows.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a rotating body that holds a sample, a driving device that rotates the rotating body, a rotor chamber that houses the rotating body, and an opening through which the rotating body is inserted and removed are provided. In a centrifuge having a bowl for storing, a frame for storing the bowl, a door for opening and closing the opening, and a display for displaying an input of operating conditions and an operating state, a first display unit is provided on an upper surface of the door. And a second display portion is provided on the frame.
According to another feature of the invention, the second display portion is protected by the door when the door seals the rotor chamber.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the second display unit displays information when the door is open.
According to another aspect of the present invention, information to be displayed on the second display unit can be selected.
According to another feature of the present invention, the information displayed on the second display unit changes at regular intervals.

  According to the present invention, since the display unit displays necessary information in a distributed manner, the size of the display unit can be reduced, the degree of freedom of the installation position can be increased, and the main body can be downsized without impairing convenience such as operability. In addition, since the user can select the information to be displayed, the minimum necessary information can be confirmed even on a display unit with a small size, and the main body can be downsized without impairing the convenience such as the amount of information.

The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the centrifuge which concerns on the Example of this invention. Schematic which shows one Embodiment of the centrifuge which concerns on the Example of this invention. The figure which looked at one embodiment in the centrifuge used as the present invention from the top (partial sectional view which omitted the door) An example of the display state of the sub-display unit of the centrifuge according to the present invention An example of the display state of the sub-display unit of the centrifuge according to the present invention

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a general centrifuge 50. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the centrifuge 50 as viewed from the side. In the centrifuge 50, a bowl 3 made of a thin metal plate is provided inside an outer frame 7 made of a box-shaped sheet metal or the like, and a rotor chamber 2 is defined by a door 17 that opens and closes an opening of the bowl 3. Then, the rotor chamber 2 is sealed by the door packing 16. The rotor 1 is a rotating body that holds a sample to be separated and rotates at a high speed, and is attached to a rotating shaft 19a of a motor 19 that is a driving device. The motor 19 is fixed to the motor base 8 constituting a part of the frame via the damper 11. Further, legs 15 are provided at the lower part of the outer frame 7.

  In this specification, the frame refers to a complex including the outer frame 7, the motor base 8, the rear plate 9, and the front plate 10. A motor base 8 is connected to the outer frame 7 so as to divide the upper and lower parts into two parts, and the outer frame 7 and the motor base 8 constitute an upper chamber and a lower chamber. The motor 19 is disposed so as to pass through the opening 8a of the motor base 8, and the bowl 3 is disposed above the motor 19 and in the upper chamber. The bowl 3 is fixed to the motor base 8 with screws (not shown). The bowl 3 is formed of a material that does not easily rust, such as stainless steel, has a substantially circular horizontal cross section, and has a substantially cup shape with an opening on the upper side. A copper pipe (refrigeration pipe) 4 is spirally wound around the bowl 3 in order to cool the rotor chamber 2 and cool (maintain) the rotor 1 to the set temperature input from the operation panels 20 and 21. A heat insulating layer 5 made of a foaming agent or the like is further provided around the pipe 4, and a cylindrical protector 6 is disposed outside the heat insulating layer 5. The cylindrical protector 6 is obtained by cutting a commercially available thick steel pipe having a thickness of several millimeters to several tens of millimeters into a predetermined length. Between the outer peripheral surface of the heat insulation layer 5 and the cylindrical protector 6, you may comprise so that it may have a clearance gap, and you may arrange | position so that it may contact | connect. In addition, when filling and hardening the foaming agents, such as urethane foam, as the heat insulation layer 5, you may further arrange | position the thin-plate cylindrical tube which forms the formwork of an outer peripheral side. The bowl 3 and the cylindrical protector 6 are disposed so as to be concentric with the axis of the rotating shaft 19 a of the motor 19.

  The cylindrical protector 6 accommodated in the outer frame 7 acts so as to suppress the positional deviation of the protector 6 during transportation of the centrifuge by a plurality of L-shaped stoppers (not shown) fixed to the motor base 8. To do. Between the outer frame 7 and the cylindrical protector 6, there is a clearance (a slight space) for attaching the cylindrical protector 6. A control device 18 that controls the operation of the motor 19 and the like is disposed in the outer frame 7. The control device 18 includes a microprocessor, and controls the centrifugal operation by software by executing a computer program.

  The door 17 is pivotally supported on the outer frame 7 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction with a hinge (not shown) as a swing shaft. Here, a hinge is provided on the left side of the centrifuge 50 and the door 17 can be opened by a so-called right opening, but the hinge may be provided by a front opening on the rear side or a left opening on the right side. Also good. The rotor chamber 2 is configured such that the upper opening can be sealed by a door 17, and the rotor 1 can be attached to or detached from the rotor chamber 2 with the door 17 opened. The rotor 1 is appropriately selected according to the sample to be centrifuged and the sample container that holds the sample, and is attached to the rotating shaft 19 a of the motor 19. On the front side of the door 17, an operation panel 20 of a first display unit that displays various information while a user inputs conditions such as the rotational speed and separation time of the rotor is disposed.

  The copper pipe 4 constitutes a part of the cooling device. The refrigerant is sent from the compressor 12 into the condenser 13 and the refrigerant cooled by the condenser 13 and the blower (fan) 14 is liquefied. The liquefied refrigerant is supplied to the copper pipe 4 through the capillary 4a, and the inside of the rotor chamber 2 is cooled by rapidly removing the heat of the bowl 3 at the outer peripheral portion of the bowl 3. By operating the cooling device that circulates the refrigerant through the copper pipe 4 in this way, the inside of the rotor chamber 2 is kept constant at a desired temperature set by the control of the control device 18 during the centrifugal separation operation. Be drunk. The temperature of the rotor 1 is monitored by the control device 18 using the output of a temperature sensor (not shown) installed in the rotor chamber 2. Some centrifuges 50 do not have a refrigeration pipe wound around the bowl 3. There is also a model that uses a vacuum pump to depressurize the interior of the rotor chamber 2. In general, a cylindrical protector member is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the bowl 3 and a box-shaped outer frame 7 is positioned on the outer side thereof.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention. A first display unit (main display unit) 20 made of a liquid crystal touch panel or the like is provided on the upper surface of the door 17. The first display unit 20 allows the user to input conditions such as the rotational speed and separation time of the rotor, and various types. Information can be displayed, and on the upper surface of the frame (housing) facing the lower surface of the door 17, a second display in which a part of the information displayed on the first display unit 20 can be displayed. A section (sub display section) 21 is provided. The first display unit 20 is installed on the door 17 and is on the near side when the door is closed so that various information can be confirmed and operated. However, when the door is opened, it is difficult for the user to visually recognize the information. The second display unit 21 is in a position where it cannot be seen by being blocked by the door 17 when the door is closed, but can be seen when the door is opened. (The second display unit 21 is protected by the door 17.) When the door is closed, the display on the second display unit 21 may be stopped.

  FIG. 3 shows a view of the centrifuge 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above. The door 17 is omitted. A door packing 16 is arranged in a ring shape at the opening of the bowl 3 forming a part of the rotor chamber 2. Furthermore, the circumference | surroundings of the bowl 3 which forms a part of rotor chamber 2 are covered with the heat insulation layer 5, and the protector 6 is arrange | positioned on the outer side. When the display unit is arranged on the upper surface of the frame while avoiding these components, the size necessary for displaying on the normal display unit is about A in the figure. On the other hand, the second display unit 21 with a reduced amount of information can be arranged as shown in the figure, and information can be displayed when the door is opened while the main body is downsized.

  4 and 5 show examples of information displayed on the second display unit 21. FIG. For example, when a plurality of types of rotors 1 are exchanged and used, the current setting can be confirmed by displaying the used rotor and the used rotational speed as shown in FIG. When it is necessary to keep the operation record of the centrifugal separation process, the previous condition can be confirmed even when the door is opened by displaying the previous operation condition as shown in FIG. Further, in the case of a user who does not replace the rotor 1, other necessary information can be displayed without displaying the rotor type information. When an error related to the rotor chamber occurs, the error content is displayed on the second display unit 21 while the rotor chamber is being operated, so that the error content is displayed on the second display unit 21 even when the door 17 remains open. This can be confirmed.

Furthermore, the content displayed on the second display unit 21 may be set by the user, and the information displayed on the second display unit 21 may be changed at regular intervals. For example, FIG. By setting a plurality of contents to be displayed at once shown in FIG. 5 and alternately displaying a plurality of display contents, more information can be displayed even on a small display screen.
Further, a plurality of display contents are provided on the display section using a liquid crystal touch panel of the second display section 21 and a button section (not shown) is provided. By pressing this button, the display contents of the second display section 21 are changed. As a result, more information can be displayed.

1 Rotor 2 Rotor chamber 3 Bowl 4 Copper pipe (refrigeration piping)
5 Heat insulation layer 6 Protector 7 Outer frame 8 Motor base 9 Rear plate 10 Front plate 11 Damper 12 Compressor 13 Condenser 14 Blower (fan)
15 Leg 16 Door packing 17 Door 18 Control device 19 Motor (drive device)
20 First display section (main display section)
21 Second display section (sub display section)
50 Centrifuge

Claims (5)

A rotating body for holding a sample;
A driving device for rotating the rotating body;
Forming a rotor chamber for storing the rotating body, and storing a bowl having an opening for taking in and out the rotating body;
A frame for storing the bowl; a door for opening and closing the opening;
In the centrifuge equipped with a display unit for displaying the operating condition input and operating state,
A first display portion is provided on the upper surface of the door,
A centrifuge characterized in that a second display portion is provided on the frame. The centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the second display unit is protected by the door when the door seals the rotor chamber. The centrifuge according to claim 2, wherein the second display unit displays information when the door is open. The centrifuge is further provided with a control device,
Set a plurality of information to be displayed on the second display unit in the control device,
The centrifuge of Claim 1 which can select the information displayed on said 2nd display part. Set a plurality of information to be displayed on the second display unit in the control device,
The centrifuge according to claim 4, wherein the information displayed on the second display unit changes at regular intervals.