JP2023012882A - Sterilization device - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent an object from being caught between a lower end portion of a door and a floor surface even in lowering the door.SOLUTION: A sterilization device includes: a vessel main body 33 as a pressure vessel or a pressure-resistant sealed vessel, provided with a main body claw portion 38 on a peripheral edge of an opening portion 31; a door 32 provided with a door claw portion 36 to be engaged with the main body claw portion 38 on a peripheral edge, vertically movable so that the main body claw portion 38 and the door claw portion 36 can be engaged with and disengaged from each other by being vertically moved to the vessel main body 33, and openable outward to the opening portion 31 of the vessel main body 33 in a state that the main body claw portion 38 and the door claw portion 36 are not engaged with each other; a door cover 34 disposed at a front face of the door 32, supporting the door 32 slidably in the vertical direction, having a vertical length longer than a vertical length of the door 32, and openable outward integrally with the door 32; and a moving device 50 for vertically moving the door 32 within a range of not projecting from an upper end portion and a lower end portion of the door cover 34.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus for sterilizing objects to be sterilized.

In hospitals and the like, it is necessary to sterilize medical bandages, scalpels, forceps, surgical gowns, and other items that require sterilization. For the sterilization of such objects to be sterilized, a sterilization apparatus that has a pressure vessel or a pressure-tight sealed container that houses the objects to be sterilized and uses a sterilant such as saturated steam, ethylene oxide gas, or vaporized hydrogen peroxide is used. is often used.

A pressure vessel or a pressure-tight sealed container that constitutes a sterilization apparatus is provided with a door that opens and closes an opening of the pressure vessel or the pressure-tight sealed container.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a door structure in a pressure vessel or a pressure-tight sealed vessel that constitutes a sterilization apparatus.
According to the door structure disclosed in Patent Document 1, the door of the pressure vessel or the pressure-resistant sealed container and the body of the pressure vessel or the body of the pressure-resistant sealed container (hereinafter referred to as the container body) each have a plurality of locking claws. is provided, and the door is locked by mutually engaging a plurality of locking claws of the container body and a plurality of locking claws of the door.

The plurality of locking claws provided on the container body are formed of L-shaped members when viewed from above, and protrude forward from both left and right sides of the front end face of the opening of the container body, They are arranged so as to protrude inward from there so as to face each other. That is, the locking claws provided on the container body are provided so as to have a gap between them and the front end face of the opening.

The plurality of locking claws provided on the door are arranged so as to protrude on both left and right sides of the door, and the plurality of locking claws provided on the container body are aligned with the front end face of the opening. It is provided so as to be located in the gap between them.
When closing the door to increase the pressure in the container body, the door is positioned so that the plurality of locking claws provided on the container body and the plurality of locking claws provided on the door are locked. move up and down.
When the door is to be opened, the door is moved up and down to a position where the locking claws of the door do not lock with the locking claws provided on the container body, so that the door can be opened and closed.

JP 2014-190357 A

A sterilization apparatus having a structure in which the door is moved up and down in order to lock and unlock the locking claws of the door and the container body when the door is opened and closed has the following problems.
When the door is opened and the object to be sterilized is stored in the container body and taken out from the container body, the door is closed and the door is lowered so that the locking claws of the door and the container body are engaged with each other. Any object may get caught between the descending door and the floor, especially if the worker puts his or her foot on it, and the worker's foot gets caught between the descending door and the floor. There is a high risk of collapse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sterilizer capable of preventing pinching between the lower end of the door and the floor even when the door is lowered. is to provide

According to the sterilization apparatus of the present invention, a container main body, which is a pressure vessel or a pressure-resistant sealed container, in which main body claw portions are formed on the peripheral edge of an opening that opens to the front side, and door claws that engage with the main body claw portions. is formed on the peripheral edge of the container body, and is vertically movable so as to engage and disengage the main body claw portion and the door claw portion by moving up and down with respect to the container body, and the main body claw portion and the a door that can be opened outwardly with respect to the opening of the container body when the door claw portion is not engaged with the door; a door cover which supports the door as much as possible, is formed to be longer in the vertical direction than the vertical length of the door, and is provided integrally with the door so as to be able to open outward; and a moving device for moving in the vertical direction within a range that does not protrude from the upper end and the lower end.
By adopting this configuration, when the door is opened from the closed state, the moving device raises the door in order to release the engagement between the main body claw portion and the door claw portion. At this time, since the door is slidably supported in the vertical direction with respect to the door cover, only the door rises without vertical movement of the door cover, and the engagement between the body claw portion and the door claw portion is disengaged. be released.
In addition, when the door is opened outward in the disengaged state, the door cover is opened outward with respect to the container body. to open
When closing the door, the door cover and the door are closed from the outwardly opened state, and the moving device lowers the door. At this time, since the door is slidably supported in the vertical direction with respect to the door cover, only the door descends without the door cover moving vertically, and the body claw portion and the door claw portion are engaged. . In this way, the door cover does not move up and down, and only the door moves up and down inside the door cover. In particular, it is possible to eliminate the risk of pinching a worker's leg or the like.

Further, the door cover may be provided with an indicator for displaying the vertical position of the door.
According to this configuration, even if the door moves up and down inside the door cover, the operator can confirm the position of the door by the indicator.

Further, the indicator has an opening groove that opens along the vertical direction on the front surface of the door cover, and a projecting portion that projects forward from the front surface side of the door and is accommodated in the opening groove. good.

Further, the door may be slidably supported at two upper and lower positions with respect to the door cover.
According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the door from swinging in the front-rear direction with respect to the door cover.

Further, the moving device may be configured such that a linear motion device having a reciprocating rod is attached to the door cover, and a tip of the rod is attached to the door.

Further, in the moving device, a linear motion device having a reciprocating rod is attached to the door cover so that the rod faces the horizontal direction, and converts the reciprocating motion of the rod in the horizontal direction into the reciprocating motion in the vertical direction. A mechanism may be provided between the tip of the rod and the door.

According to the sterilization apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent pinching between the lower end of the door and the floor even when the door is lowered.

1 is a schematic front view of a sterilizer; FIG. Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of the sterilizer showing the door raised; It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of a door and a door cover. It is a front view which shows the structure inside a door cover. It is a perspective view from diagonally right side which shows the structure inside a door cover. It is a perspective view from diagonally left side which shows the structure inside a door cover. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system that performs vertical movement of the door;

1 and 2 show the front view of the sterilizer. 1 and 2, the door 32, the opening 31, and the container body 33 located behind the door cover 34 are illustrated by broken lines.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the door cover and the door. Note that FIG. 3 shows only the front side of the sterilization apparatus.

The sterilizer 30 has a container body 33 which is a pressure container or a pressure-tight sealed container. The sterilization device 30 of the present embodiment is, for example, a steam sterilization device, and the container main body 33 can contain objects to be sterilized, such as scalpels and forceps.

An opening 31 is formed on the front side of the container body 33 , and a door 32 for opening and closing the opening 31 is provided. A door cover 34 is provided in front of the door 32 .
The container main body 33 has a substantially rectangular shape slightly elongated in the vertical direction when viewed from the front side, and the opening 31 also has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front.
The door 32 closing the opening 31 also has a substantially rectangular shape large enough to close the opening 31 .

The door cover 34 has a size that completely hides the door 32 when viewed from the front. Further, even when the door 32 moves up and down inside the door cover 34, the door cover 34 does not move up and down.

The sterilizer 30 is installed on the floor surface G in this embodiment, and the position of the lower end of the door cover 34 is configured to have a length that substantially contacts the floor surface G. As shown in FIG.
Therefore, no gap is generated between the floor surface G and the lower end of the door cover 34 .
The sterilization apparatus 30 may be placed in a recess that is recessed below the floor G, but even in this case, the lower end of the door cover 34 should be in contact with the floor G. , no gap is formed between the floor surface G and the lower end of the door cover 34. - 特許庁

The door 32 is provided with a plurality of door claws 36 for engaging with the container body 33 . In this embodiment, a plurality of door claw portions 36 are arranged along the vertical direction on both the left and right sides of the door 32 .
A plurality of body claw portions 38 that engage with the door claw portions 36 are provided on the left and right peripheral edges of the opening 31 of the container body 33 .
Specifically, the plurality of main body claw portions 38 are arranged at positions protruding forward so as to leave a predetermined gap from the periphery of the opening 31 . The door claw portion 36 of the door 32 is arranged between the body claw portion 38 and the periphery of the opening 31, and slides in the gap between the body claw portion 38 and the periphery of the opening 31 as the door 32 moves up and down. .

In FIG. 1 , the door 32 is in a closed state, and the door claw portion 36 of the door 32 is positioned between the body claw portion 38 and the peripheral edge of the opening 31 , so that the door 32 is opened from the container body 33 . The door claw portion 36 and the main body claw portion 38 are engaged so as to prevent the opening.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the door 32 is lifted and the door claw portion 36 is positioned between the body claw portion 38 and the adjacent body claw portion 38 . In this state, the door claw portion 36 and the body claw portion 38 are not engaged with each other, so that the door 32 can be opened with respect to the opening portion 31 .

FIG. 4 shows a front view showing the internal structure inside the door cover, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show the internal structure of FIG. 3 as seen obliquely from right and left.
4 to 6, the door cover 34 is omitted, and the left and right frames 40a and 40b extending in the vertical direction to which the door cover 34 is attached and the upper end connecting the upper ends of the left and right frames 40a and 40b in the horizontal direction. A rectangular frame body 40 including a frame 40c and a lower frame 40d horizontally connecting the lower ends of the left and right frames 40a and 40b is shown. However, in FIG. 6, the frame 40 of the door cover is omitted.
In addition, the frame body 40 is provided with a plurality of horizontal frames 41 that horizontally support the left and right frames 40a and 40b so as to connect the left and right frames 40a and 40b.

A door 32 is arranged behind a horizontal frame 41, a hinge 44 is fixed between the right frame 40b and the horizontal frame 41, and the hinge 44 is integrated with the frame 40 (door cover 34).
As shown in FIG. 5, the hinge 44 is attached to the container body 33 so that the door cover 34 can be opened outward by a plurality of rotating shafts 46 whose axial direction is the vertical direction.

In this embodiment, the pivot shaft 46 of the hinge 44 is attached to the right side of the container body 33, so that the door cover 34 is configured to open from the left side.
However, it may be configured such that the pivot shaft 46 of the hinge 44 is attached to the left side of the container body 33 and the door cover 34 is opened from the right side.

The door 32 is supported so as to be vertically movable with respect to the door cover 34 . In this embodiment, the door 32 is vertically movably supported by hinges 44 fixed to the frame 40 of the door cover 34 . 32 may be supported so as to be vertically movable.
A vertically extending support rod 48 is provided on the front side of the door 32 and is supported by the hinge 44 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction.
The support rods 48 are provided at two locations, upper and lower, on the front side of the door 32 . Therefore, the door 32 can be prevented from swinging in the front-rear direction with respect to the door cover 34 .

A vertical motion mechanism 50 for vertically moving the door 32 with respect to the door cover 34 is horizontally driven by a linear motion device 52 arranged to horizontally drive a rod 53 on the horizontal frame 41 and by the linear motion device 52 . and a crank portion 54 attached to the tip of the rod 53 .
One end of the crank portion 54 is rotatably attached to the tip of the rod 53, and the other end of the crank portion 54 serves as a fulcrum. It is rotatably attached to a hinge 44 (or part of the frame 40 of the door cover 34). A bent intermediate portion of the crank portion 54 is rotatably attached to the door 32 .

When the rod 53 is horizontally extended by the direct-acting device 52, the bent intermediate portion of the crank portion 54 rotates downward, causing the door 32 to descend.
When the rod 53 is horizontally contracted by the direct-acting device 42 , the bent intermediate portion of the crank portion 54 rotates upward to lift the door 32 .

By arranging the direct-acting device 52 such that the rod 53 expands and contracts in the horizontal direction, the door 32 can be moved up and down without any trouble even in a narrow gap between the door cover 34 of the horizontal frame 41 and the door 32. be able to.

As the direct-acting device 52, any configuration may be adopted as long as the rod 53 can be protruded and inserted, such as an actuator, a combination of a motor and a ball screw, or an air cylinder.

The door cover 34 is provided with an indicator 60 that indicates the current vertical position of the door 32 .
The indicator 60 has an opening groove 62 that opens vertically in the front surface of the door cover 34 , and a projecting portion 64 that projects forward from the front surface side of the door 32 and is accommodated in the opening groove 62 . The tip of the protruding portion 64 may be colored in a different color from the front side of the door cover 34, for example red, so as to be easily visible.

If the door cover 34 does not move up and down and the door 32 moves up and down inside the door cover 34, the operator does not know where the door 32 is. The vertical position of the door 32 can be grasped.

Further, since the indicator 60 directly indicates the vertical position of the door 32 by means of the projecting portion 64 provided on the front side of the door 32, reliable indication can be performed without fear of failure or malfunction.

The door cover 34 is provided with a handle 66 to be gripped when the operator opens the door 32 outward.
In this embodiment, the handle 66 is provided on the left side when viewed from the front because the pivot shaft 46 of the hinge 44 is provided on the right side when viewed from the front. When the opening direction of the outward opening is reversed, the pivot shaft 46 of the hinge 44 is provided on the left side when viewed from the front, and the handle 66 is provided on the right side when viewed from the front.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a control system involved in controlling the vertical movement of the door 32. As shown in FIG.
The sterilization device 30 is provided with a control section 70 that controls the operation of the entire device. The control unit 70 is composed of a CPU, a memory, and the like that operate based on a preset operation program.
The sterilization apparatus 30 is provided with a drive switch 72 for the door 32. When the operator operates the drive switch 72, the claws 36 and 38 of the door 32 and the container body 33 are engaged or engaged with each other. Unmating is performed.

The control unit 70 also has a position in which the door 32 is raised (the engagement between the claws 36 and 38 of the door 32 and the container body 33 is released) or a position in which the door 32 is lowered (the door 32 is A signal is input from the door position sensor 75 detecting either the claw portions 36 and 38 are engaged with the container body 33 .

Before the sterilization process is performed, the door 32 is raised inside the door cover 34, and the claws 36 and 38 of the door 32 and the container body 33 are disengaged. Thus, an operator can freely open the door 32 (including the door cover 34 integrated with the door 32) by grasping the handle 66. As shown in FIG.

After storing the object to be sterilized in the container main body 33, the operator grasps the handle 66 and closes the door 32 (including the door cover 34 integrated with the door 32). Then, the operator operates the drive switch 72 .
The drive switch 72 operated by the operator outputs an open/close signal to the controller 70 .
When the door position sensor 75 detects that the door 32 is in the raised position, the control unit 70 that has received the open/close signal causes the linear motion device 52 of the vertical movement mechanism 50 to lower the door 32. Output a signal. Upon receiving the control signal for lowering the door 32, the direct-acting device 52 operates in the direction in which the rod 53 protrudes. Due to the projection of the rod 53, the intermediate portion of the crank portion 54 descends, and the door 32 descends accordingly.

The door 32 descends by a preset predetermined distance. The control unit 70 stores in advance the operation time of the linear motion device 52 based on the vertical movement distance of the door 32, and controls the linear motion device 52 so that the door 32 descends by a predetermined distance.
Since the vertical movement of the door 32 is due to the engagement and disengagement of the door claw portion 36 and the body claw portion 38, the door 32 can be moved up and down by half the distance between the plurality of body claw portions 38. good. In this embodiment, the vertical movement distance of the door 32 is assumed to be about 50 mm.

In this way, when the door 32 is lowered, the door cover 34 does not move up and down, and there is no gap between the lower end of the door cover 34 and the floor surface. It is possible to prevent the foot from being caught between the

After the sterilization process is finished, when the sterilized object is to be taken out from the container body 33, the operator operates the drive switch 72 to raise the door 32. As shown in FIG.
The drive switch 72 operated by the operator outputs an open/close signal to the controller 70 .
When the door position sensor 75 detects that the door 32 is in the lowered position, the control unit 70 that has received the open/close signal causes the linear motion device 52 of the vertical movement mechanism 50 to raise the door 32. Output a control signal. Upon receiving the control signal for raising the door 32 , the linear motion device 52 operates in the direction to contract the rod 53 . As the rod 53 contracts, the intermediate portion of the crank portion 54 rises, and the door 32 rises accordingly.

The drive switch 72 described above is a single switch that controls both the opening of the door 32 (lifting of the door 32) and the closing of the door 32 (lowering of the door 32). A switch for opening the door 32 and a switch for closing the door 32 may be separately provided.

In the above-described embodiments, the steam sterilization apparatus using a pressure vessel was described as the sterilization apparatus. The invention of the present application can be similarly implemented in an apparatus.

30 sterilizer 31 opening 32 door 33 container body 34 door cover 36 door claw 38 body claw 40 frame 40a left frame 40b right frame 40c upper frame 40d lower frame 41 horizontal frame 42 linear motion device 44 hinge 46 rotation shaft 48 support rod 50 vertical motion mechanism 52 linear motion device 53 rod 54 crank portion 60 indicator 62 opening groove 64 projecting portion 66 handle 70 control portion 72 drive switch 75 door position sensor G floor surface

Claims (6)

a container main body, which is a pressure container or a pressure-tight closed container, in which a main body claw portion is formed on the periphery of an opening that opens to the front side;
A door claw portion that engages with the main body claw portion is formed on the peripheral edge, and is vertically movable so as to perform engagement and release between the main body claw portion and the door claw portion by moving up and down with respect to the container body. a door that can be opened outwardly with respect to the opening of the container body when the main body claw portion and the door claw portion are not engaged with each other;
It is arranged on the front surface of the door, supports the door so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, has a length in the vertical direction longer than the length in the vertical direction of the door, and opens outward integrally with the door. a door cover provided, and
a moving device for moving the door vertically within a range that does not protrude from the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the door cover. 2. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein said door cover is provided with an indicator for displaying the vertical position of said door. 4. The indicator has an opening groove that opens along the vertical direction in the front surface of the door cover, and a projecting portion that projects forward from the front surface side of the door and is accommodated in the opening groove. 3. The sterilizer according to 2. The sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the door is slidably supported at two upper and lower positions with respect to the door cover. The moving device
A linear motion device having a reciprocating rod is attached to the door cover, and a tip of the rod is attached to the door. Sterilizer as described. The moving device
A linear motion device having a reciprocating rod is attached to the door cover so that the rod faces the horizontal direction. The sterilization device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is provided between and.

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