JP2017176130A - Incubator enclosure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the diffusion of contamination around an incubator, while reducing the amount of heat of cooling in a chamber by reducing the exothermic load of the incubator.SOLUTION: An incubator enclosure has: a storage chamber which has an opening portion in one surface and is capable of storing an incubator inside from the opening portion; a ventilation path which exhausts the air in a storage chamber to the outside of the working environment in which the apparatus is arranged in order to cool the air in the incubator; a local exhaust path which has an entrance arranged at a peripheral portion of the opening portion in order to exhaust the air in the vicinity of the storage chamber to the outside of the working environment and in which a pressure is maintained so as to be negative as compared to that in the working environment; a stopper which is arranged in the opening portion so as to be openable and closable and which suppresses the opening of the incubator door when in a closed state, and a lid which closes the inlet of the local exhaust path in a closed state of the stopper and which opens the inlet of the local exhaust path in an opened state of the stopper.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an incubator storage device.

  Conventionally, incubators (incubators) in which the internal atmosphere is maintained under conditions suitable for culturing biological samples in order to cultivate biological samples such as cells in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, food factories, regenerative medical facilities, research facilities, etc. Is used (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4966632

  FIG. 8 shows a conventional example in a room where an incubator is installed. As shown in FIG. 8, the incubator 101 is generally installed in an exposed state in the room 102 of the facility. For example, a safety cabinet 105 is arranged in the room 102 in which the incubator 101 is installed, and operations such as medium replacement, passage, and observation are performed in the safety cabinet 105. Here, the heat generation load of the incubator 101 is processed by the air conditioner 107 that air-conditions the interior of the facility, and the air conditioned through the air outlet 103 is sent into the room from an exhaust port 104 provided at a height near the floor. Indoor air is exhausted outside the room. Therefore, in the air conditioning of the room where the incubator 101 is arranged, it is necessary to air-condition the entire room so as to cover the heat generation load of the incubator 101 in addition to the heat load required for normal indoor air conditioning. The amount of cooling heat supplied to the room tends to be excessive.

  In addition, since the internal atmosphere of the incubator 101 is hot and humid, the inside of the cabinet is in an environment where harmful fungi and the like can easily propagate. When the inside of a certain incubator 101 is contaminated with harmful fungi or the like, the contaminated air diffuses into the room 102 when the door of the incubator 101 is opened. As a result, for example, when the door of another incubator 101 ′ disposed in the room 102 is opened, contaminated air flows into the cabinet, so that cross contamination also occurs in the other incubator 101 ′. There is a fear.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a means for reducing the amount of cooling heat in the room by reducing the heat generation load of the incubator and suppressing the diffusion of contamination around the incubator.

  An incubator storage device that is an example of the present invention has an opening on one side, a storage chamber in which the incubator can be stored from the opening, and an outside of the work environment in which the device is disposed to air-cool the incubator. A ventilation path that exhausts the air in the storage room and a local exhaust path that has an inlet at the peripheral edge of the opening to exhaust the air in the vicinity of the storage room to the outside of the work environment and is held at a negative pressure than the work environment. A stopper that is openable and closable at the opening and prevents the opening of the incubator door when closed, and the local exhaust passage inlet is closed when the stopper is closed, and the stopper is opened when the stopper is open. And a lid that opens the inlet of the exhaust passage.

  In the above incubator storage device, the stopper and the lid may rotate coaxially. Further, the stopper and the lid may be rotated in conjunction with each other.

  The incubator storage device may have a plurality of storage chambers. Each storage chamber also has a detector that detects the open / closed state of the stopper, and an electricity that holds the stoppers of the other storage chambers closed when any of the plurality of storage chambers is open. And a lock may be provided.

  According to the incubator storage device of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of cooling heat in the room by reducing the heat generation load of the incubator, and to suppress the diffusion of contamination around the incubator.

The perspective view of the incubator storage apparatus of this embodiment The figure which shows an example of the room | chamber interior in which the incubator storage apparatus of this embodiment was installed The front view of the storage chamber part of the incubator storage device of this embodiment Cross-sectional view of the storage chamber portion of the incubator storage device of this embodiment The figure which shows the flow of the air of a storage chamber when a stopper exists in a closed state in this embodiment. The figure which shows the flow of the air of a storage chamber when a stopper exists in an open state in this embodiment. (A), (B) Cross-sectional view of a storage chamber portion of an incubator storage device which is a modification of the present embodiment The figure which shows the conventional example of the room where the incubator is installed

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the incubator storage device of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows an example of a room in a facility where the incubator storage device of the present embodiment is installed.

  The incubator storage device 100 of the present embodiment is a shelf-like device having a storage chamber 11 in which an incubator 101 for culturing a biological sample such as a cell can be stored and having an exhaust function of the storage chamber 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the incubator storage device 100 of this embodiment is disposed in a room 102 of a facility such as a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, a food factory, a regenerative medical facility, a research facility, or the like. Air conditioned by an air conditioner 107 is supplied from an air outlet 103 to a room 102 in which the incubator storage device 100 is disposed. In the room 102, for example, a safety cabinet 105 is arranged for an operator to perform operations such as medium replacement, passage, and observation. Note that the room 102 in which the incubator storage device 100 is disposed is an example of a work environment.

  The incubator 101 stored in the incubator storage device 100 has a temperature-controlled room covered with a heat insulating material, and can culture a biological sample by placing a culture container containing the biological sample inside. . A door 101a is provided in front of the incubator 101. By opening the door 101a, an operator can put a culture container in and out of the temperature-controlled room. In addition, the door 101a of the incubator according to the present embodiment is a left-opening door that opens and closes with the front left side of the incubator 101 as a rotation axis.

Moreover, the incubator 101 has a temperature control means and a humidity control means, and the internal atmosphere of a temperature-controlled room is maintained on the conditions suitable for culture | cultivation of a biological sample. For example, when the biological sample is a cell, the internal atmosphere of the temperature-controlled room is maintained at a temperature of 37 ° C. and a relative humidity of 95%. Although not particularly limited, the incubator 101 may be a CO ₂ incubator capable of adjusting the internal carbon dioxide concentration.

  On the other hand, the incubator storage device 100 of this embodiment has two storage chambers 11 arranged in two upper and lower stages. Each storage chamber 11 is a rectangular parallelepiped space having an opening formed on the front side, and the incubator 101 can be stored inside the storage chamber 11 from the opening. An exhaust unit 12 is provided on the upper side of the incubator storage device 100. The exhaust unit 12 is connected to an exhaust duct 106 for exhausting outdoors (the exhaust duct is not shown in FIG. 1). Note that a fan for sending air to the exhaust duct 106 may be provided in the exhaust unit 12. Air supply required for the safety cabinet 105 in the room 102 and air supply required for ventilation of the room itself are air-conditioned by the air conditioner 107 and supplied from the outlet 103, and part of the air is supplied to the incubator storage device 100 of the incubator 101. The air is sucked in as an air supply to the air and discharged through the exhaust duct 106. FIG. 2 shows that the total amount of supply air and the amount of exhaust discharged through the exhaust duct 106 are the same as in the state of FIG. In many cases, there is an air supply amount to the room 102 exhausted from the exhaust port 104 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of the storage chamber portion of the incubator storage device of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the storage chamber portion of the incubator storage device of the present embodiment. In addition, since the structure of each storage chamber in the incubator storage apparatus of this embodiment is the same or similar, all the duplication description regarding another storage chamber is abbreviate | omitted by describing the structure of one storage chamber.

  In the incubator storage device 100, a back ventilation path 13 is provided on the back surface 11 a side of the storage chamber 11 in order to air-cool the incubator 101. Further, a local exhaust path 14 is provided on each side of each storage chamber 11 in order to exhaust the air in the vicinity of the storage chamber to the outside of the working environment. The back ventilation path 13 is an example of a ventilation path, and is provided so as to extend in the vertical direction over the back surface 11 a side of the upper and lower two storage chambers, and the outlet of the back ventilation path 13 is connected to the exhaust unit 12. Has been. In addition, the back surface 11a of each storage chamber is comprised, for example by members, such as grating and punch metal, and the air of the storage chamber 11 flows into the back ventilation path 13 from the back surface 11a side in each storage chamber 11. FIG. Therefore, the air in the storage chamber 11 is exhausted to the outside of the work environment (102) in which the incubator storage device 100 is disposed via the back ventilation path 13. The opening ratio of the back surface 11a of the storage chamber is determined such that the pressure loss due to suction of the back surface 11a of the storage chamber is smaller than the pressure loss due to suction of the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14.

  The local exhaust path 14 extends from the front surface of the storage chamber 11 toward the rear surface, and an entrance is provided on the front surface of the incubator storage device 100 that forms an opening of the storage chamber 11. The inlet of the local exhaust path 14 is located on the right side of the storage chamber 11 that is the periphery of the opening of the storage chamber 11. Moreover, the local exhaust path 14 is connected to the back ventilation path 13 on the back surface 11a side of the storage room.

  In addition, the back ventilation path 13 and each local exhaust path 14 in the incubator storage device 100 are made to have a negative pressure more than the indoor (working environment) 102 of the facility due to the intake of a fan provided in the exhaust duct 106 or the exhaust unit 12. Is retained.

  In addition, a stopper 15 is provided at the front opening of the storage chamber 11, and a lid body 16, a lid receiver 17, and a limit switch 18 are provided at the entrance of the local exhaust passage to close the entrance of the local exhaust passage. ing.

  The stopper 15 is a member that suppresses the opening of the door 101a of the incubator, and is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the opening. The stopper 15 of the present embodiment is composed of a rod-like member that extends in the width direction of the opening and is folded back into a U shape, and is rotated so that the right side of the opening of the storage chamber 11 is a right axis. Move. The stopper 15 in the closed state is in a horizontal position with the front of the storage chamber 11, and the stopper 15 prevents the opening operation of the door 101 a of the incubator disposed in the storage chamber 11. On the other hand, when the stopper 15 is pulled forward from the closed position, the stopper 15 is rotated 90 ° clockwise or to an angle of 80 ° or more and less than 90 °. It moves to a substantially vertical position (this state is also referred to as an open state of the stopper). When the stopper 15 is in the open state, the incubator door 101a can be freely opened without being obstructed by the stopper 15.

  The lid 16 is a plate-like member having substantially the same shape as the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 and is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14. The lid body 16 rotates in conjunction with the stopper 15 so as to be point-symmetric with the stopper 15 about a rotation axis common to the stopper located on the left side of the local exhaust passage 14. For example, when the stopper 15 is in the closed state, the lid body 16 is in a position parallel to the front of the storage chamber, and the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 is blocked. When the stopper 15 is in the open state, the lid body 16 is rotated 90 ° clockwise from the closed position or to an angle between 80 ° and less than 90 °, and is stored inside the local exhaust passage 14. It moves to a position substantially perpendicular to the front of the chamber 11. Therefore, the lid body 16 is opened without closing the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 when the stopper 15 is in the opened state.

  The lid receiver 17 is a sealing member made of an elastic material arranged in a C-shape near the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14, and receives the lid body 16 at a position where the local exhaust passage 14 is closed. The gap between the body 16 and the local exhaust path 14 is closed and sealed. Further, the limit switch 18 is disposed on the left side surface in the local exhaust passage 14 and is turned on by being pressed by the lid 16 when the local exhaust passage 14 is opened. The limit switch 18 is an example of a detection unit that detects the open / close state of the stopper 15 that rotates together with the lid body 16.

  Here, two types of hinges, that is, a gravity hinge 21 and a stopper hinge 22 are used for the rotation shafts of the stopper 15 and the lid body 16.

  The gravity hinge 21 is a hinge having a function of biasing the door in the closing direction. The gravity hinge 21 has guide means for raising the door obliquely when the door is opened. When the door is opened, the door is positioned at a position higher by, for example, several mm than when the door is closed. Therefore, when the door having the gravity hinge 21 is released at the time of opening, the door rotates along the guide portion due to the weight of the door and tries to return to the closed state.

  The stopper hinge 22 is a hinge having a door positioning function. The stopper hinge 22 of the present embodiment has a convex portion on one hinge and a plurality of concave portions corresponding to the shape of the convex portion on the other hinge. The concave portion of the other hinge is spaced in the concave shape so that the convex portion fits deeper as it approaches the 90 ° interval from the convex fitting position when closed in the rotation direction or from 80 ° to less than 90 °. Is provided. Therefore, the stopper hinge 22 is temporarily held by the convex portion being locked by the concave portion at a position rotated 90 degrees from the closed position or an angle of 80 ° or more and less than 90 °. Keep open.

  Here, the stopper 15 and the lid body 16 of the present embodiment operate as follows because the gravity hinge 21 and the stopper hinge 22 are incorporated.

  When the stopper 15 and the cover body 16 are moved from the closed state to an angle of several tens of degrees and released, the gravity hinge 21 causes the stopper 15 and the cover body 16 to automatically return to the closed position. On the other hand, when the stopper 15 and the lid body 16 are rotated clockwise from the closed state to a position of 90 degrees or from 80 degrees to less than 90 degrees, the convex part of the stopper hinge 22 is locked to the concave part. The stopper 15 and the lid body 16 are temporarily held in an open state. At this time, since the lid 16 presses the limit switch 18, the limit switch 18 is turned on when the stopper 15 is opened.

  In the storage chamber 11, an electric lock 23 and a lock receiving portion 24 that receives the electric lock 23 are disposed above the stopper 15. The electric lock 23 is fixed to the front face of the opening of the storage chamber 11, and the cylinder is moved in accordance with an input based on the pressing state of the limit switch 18, so that the closed state in which the cylinder protrudes and the open state in which the cylinder is accommodated. Switch between states. Moreover, the lock receiving part 24 has a recessed part which receives the cylinder of the electric lock 23, and rotates in conjunction with the stopper 15 so that the same position as the stopper 15 may be taken in the rotation direction. Therefore, when the electric lock 23 is in the closed state when the stopper 15 is in the closed state, the cylinder of the electric lock 23 is fitted into the lock receiving portion 24 so that the position of the stopper 15 is fixed. Therefore, if the electric lock 23 is closed when the stopper 15 is in the closed state, the stopper 15 is held in the closed state.

  In the present embodiment, the stopper 15 and the lid body 16 of each storage chamber 11 can be independently rotated. In the present embodiment, the electric locks 23 of the two storage chambers 11 are each closed when it is detected by the limit switch of the other storage chamber 11 that the stopper 15 of the other storage chamber is open. . Therefore, when the stopper 15 of one storage chamber 11 is in the open state, the stopper 15 of the other storage chamber 11 is controlled to be held closed by the electric lock 23.

  Hereinafter, the effect of the incubator storage device of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 5 shows the flow of air in the storage chamber 11 when the stopper 15 is in the closed state in the present embodiment. When the stopper 15 is in the closed state, the opening of the incubator door 101 a is suppressed by the stopper 15 and the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 is blocked by the lid body 16. The presence of the stopper 15 in front of the incubator door 101a provides an opportunity for the operator to check whether the door should be opened during the procedure of moving the stopper 15, so that the incubator door that should not be opened can be opened. Human errors such as accidental opening are less likely to occur.

  Further, since the back ventilation path 14 is held at a negative pressure more than the facility room 102, the air in the facility room 102 flows from the front of the storage room toward the back of the storage room. Then, the air whose temperature has risen due to the heat radiation of the incubator is discharged to the exhaust duct 106 through the back ventilation path 13 and the exhaust unit 12. Therefore, since the heat of the incubator 101 is discharged from the work environment by the incubator storage device 100, the possibility that the temperature in the room rises due to the heat generation load of the incubator 101 is reduced. According to the present embodiment, with respect to the air conditioning in the room where the incubator 101 is arranged, a part of the exhaust discharged to the outside through the exhaust port 104 is discharged together with the heat generated from the incubator 101 by the incubator storage device 100. Since it is sufficient to consider only the load of the amount of heat required for normal indoor air conditioning without considering the load, it becomes easier to suppress the amount of cooling heat supplied into the room by the air conditioner 107 than in the conventional case. .

  FIG. 6 shows the air flow in the storage chamber 11 when the stopper 15 is in the open state in the present embodiment. When the stopper 15 is in an open state, the stopper 15 is pulled toward the front and moves to a position substantially perpendicular to the front surface of the storage chamber 11, so that the operator can open the door 101a of the incubator and place the culture vessel inside. It can be taken in and out. Further, the lid body 16 that rotates in conjunction with the stopper 15 is in a state in which the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 is opened. The local exhaust passage 14 is maintained at a negative pressure as compared with the facility room 102, and the pressure loss due to the suction of the rear surface 11 a of the storage chamber is smaller than the pressure loss due to the suction of the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14. Therefore, the air in the vicinity of the opening of the storage chamber 11 is sucked from the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 and discharged to the exhaust duct 106.

  Thereby, when the door 101a of the incubator is opened, the air including the atmosphere inside the incubator is sucked from the inlet of the local exhaust passage 14 and discharged to the exhaust duct 106, and contaminants in the incubator are released to the work environment. The risk of being drastically reduced. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since the internal atmosphere of the incubator 101 is not released to the work environment, the possibility of contamination spreading around the incubator 101 is suppressed.

(Supplementary items of the embodiment)
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the stopper 15 and the lid body 16 are rotated in conjunction with each other has been described. However, the stopper 15 and the lid body 16 are independently rotated, and the lid body 16 is opened. After that, the stopper 15 may be moved. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the stopper 15 is changed from the closed state to the open state, the operator first moves the lid 16 to the open position (FIG. 7A). Then, the lid 16 presses the limit switch 18 to change the electric lock 23 of the storage chamber 11 from the closed state to the open state so that the operator can move the stopper 15 (FIG. 7B). . Even in this case, the stopper 15 and the stopper hinge of the lid body 16 are interlocked with the closing direction so that the stopper hinge on the side of the lid body 16 is detached by the closing operation from the opened state of the stopper 15. Also with this configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the above embodiment.

  (2) The number and arrangement of the storage chambers 11 of the incubator storage device 100 are not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment. For example, the storage chamber 11 may be singular or may have three or more storage chambers 11. Moreover, the storage chamber 11 may be arrange | positioned in parallel at right and left.

  (3) The position of the local exhaust passage 14 of the incubator storage device 100 is not limited to the side portion of the storage chamber 11. For example, the local exhaust path 14 may be arranged in the upper part or the lower part of the storage chamber 11 and the stopper 15 and the lid body 16 may be rotated in the vertical direction around a rotating shaft extending in the horizontal direction.

  (4) The shape of the stopper 15 is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment. For example, the stopper 15 may have a door-like configuration that covers the front of the storage chamber as long as air can be introduced into the storage chamber 11 for air cooling of the incubator 101.

  From the above detailed description, features and advantages of the embodiments will become apparent. It is intended that the scope of the claims extend to the features and advantages of the embodiments as described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the right. Also, any improvement and modification should be readily conceivable by those having ordinary knowledge in the art. Accordingly, there is no intention to limit the scope of the inventive embodiments to those described above, and it is possible to rely on suitable improvements and equivalents included in the scope disclosed in the embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Storage chamber 11a Back surface 12 Exhaust unit 13 Back ventilation path 14 Local exhaust path 15 Stopper 16 Cover body 17 Cover holder 18 Limit switch 21 Gravity hinge 22 Stopper hinge 23 Electric lock 24 Lock receiving part 100 Incubator storage apparatus 101, 101 'Incubator 101a Door 102 Indoor 103 Air outlet 104 Air outlet 105 Safety cabinet 106 Air exhaust duct 107 Air conditioner

Claims (4)

A storage chamber having an opening on one surface and storing an incubator from the opening;
In order to air-cool the incubator, a ventilation path for exhausting the air in the storage room outside the work environment in which the apparatus is disposed;
In order to exhaust the air in the vicinity of the storage chamber to the outside of the working environment, an inlet is disposed at a peripheral portion of the opening, and a local exhaust path maintained at a negative pressure than the working environment;
A stopper that is arranged to be openable and closable at the opening, and that prevents the opening of the incubator door when in a closed state;
A lid for closing the inlet of the local exhaust passage when the stopper is closed, and opening the inlet of the local exhaust passage when the stopper is open;
An incubator storage device comprising: The incubator storage device according to claim 1,
The incubator storage device, wherein the stopper and the lid body rotate coaxially. The incubator storage device according to claim 2,
The incubator storage device, wherein the stopper and the lid are rotated in conjunction with each other. The incubator storage device according to claim 1,
The incubator storage device has a plurality of the storage chambers,
Each of the storage rooms has
A detection unit for detecting the open / closed state of the stopper;
An electric lock that holds the stoppers of the other storage chambers in a closed state when any one of the plurality of storage chambers is in an open state;
And an incubator storage device.

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