JP2023012883A - Sterilization device - Google Patents

Abstract

To allow one worker to close a door by one hand without using both hands.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 opened to a front face side; 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 vertical moving device 50 for vertically moving the door 32; a drive switch 72 for driving the vertical moving device 50; and a handle 66 disposed on a front face side of the door 32 to be gripped by a worker in opening the door 32 outward. The drive switch 72 is disposed on the handle 66.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

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. A worker needs to operate a drive switch for lowering the door while holding down the door.
Since a handle for opening and closing the door is provided on the front side of the door, the operator only needs to hold the handle when pressing the door. If the door is separated from the door, the operator must use a different hand than the one holding the handle to operate the drive switch, and the operator does not have to use both hands to close the door. It didn't work.

Generally, the drive switch is often provided on a control panel located on the left or right side of the door when viewing the sterilizer from the front.
If the door is configured to open outward from the left side and the control panel is on the left side of the door, the handle is provided on the left side of the door. Even when the door is closed using the handle, the handle can be held with the right hand and the drive switch can be operated with the left hand.
However, depending on the installation location of the sterilizer, the control panel may be located on the left side of the door and the handle may be provided on the right side of the door so that the door opens outward from the right side. In this way, if the position where the handle is provided and the position of the control panel are reversed left and right, it is possible that even if one worker holds the handle and reaches out, he or she may not be able to reach the drive switch. There was also sex.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a sterilization apparatus that allows one operator to close the door with one hand without using both hands. It is in.

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; a vertical movement device for vertically moving the door; and the vertical movement device. and a handle provided on the front side of the door for a worker to hold when opening the door, wherein the drive switch is provided on the handle It is characterized by
By adopting this configuration, when the operator tries to close the door, the operator can operate the drive switch while holding the handle, so that the operator can reliably close the door with one hand.
Also, if the drive switch is provided on the door instead of the handle, it is possible to select later whether the handle should be attached to the left side or the right side of the door, and can be freely changed. On the other hand, for the drive switch, if the door opens from the left side, the door panel for mounting the drive switch on the left side, and if the door opens from the right side, the door panel for mounting the drive switch on the right side. You must be prepared. However, by providing the drive switch on the handle as in the configuration of the present application, there is no need to prepare a plurality of types of door panels, and parts can be shared.

Further, the drive switch may be provided at the upper end of the handle.
According to this configuration, since the operator can operate the drive switch with the thumb pointing upward when holding the handle, the reliability of the operation can be enhanced.

Further, the drive switch may be a push button type switch, and may be characterized in that the push button is provided so as to face forward.
According to this configuration, when the door is moved up and down, the door can be driven simply by pressing the push button from the front side, so that the operator can easily close the door.

Further, the handle includes a first projecting portion that projects forward from the front surface of the door, and a second projecting portion that is located a predetermined distance below the first projecting portion and projects forward from the front surface of the door, A holding portion extending in a vertical direction so as to connect the first projecting portion and the second projecting portion is provided, and the drive switch is provided integrally with the first projecting portion. may be
According to this configuration, the first projecting portion originally configured as a part of the handle can also serve as the switch housing that configures the drive switch.

According to the sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the operator can close the door with one hand, and the burden on the operator when closing the door can be reduced.

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 apparatus 30 of the present embodiment is, for example, a steam sterilization apparatus, and the container main body 33 can contain objects to be sterilized, such as scalpels and forceps.

In the sterilization apparatus described below, a structure in which the door 32 moves up and down inside the door cover 34 without the door cover 34 moving up and down will be described.
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 frame 40 of 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 pivot shaft 46 of the hinge 44 is provided on the right side in front view, and the door 32 is configured to open outward from the left side, so the handle 66 is provided on the left side in front view.
If the opening direction of the door 32 is reversed, the pivot shaft 46 of the hinge 44 is provided on the left side in front view, and the handle 66 is provided on the right side in front view.

A drive switch 72 is provided on the handle 66 . The drive switch 72 is a switch operated by an operator to drive the vertical movement device 50 that vertically moves the door 32 .
By providing the drive switch 72 on the handle 66 in this way, when the operator closes the door 32, the operator can operate the drive switch 72 while holding the handle 66 and holding down the door 32. can reliably close the door 32 with one hand.

The handle 66 has a first projecting portion 67 projecting forward from the front surface of the frame 40 and a second projecting portion 68 located a predetermined distance below the first projecting portion 67 and projecting forward from the entire surface of the frame 40. and a grip portion 71 extending in the vertical direction so as to connect the first projecting portion 67 and the second projecting portion 68 . In this embodiment, the second protruding portion 68 and the gripping portion 71 are formed by bending the same member, but they may be formed by separate members.

In this embodiment, the switch housing that constitutes the drive switch 72 is configured as the first projecting portion 67 as it is.
Therefore, the first projecting portion 67 originally formed as a part of the handle 66 can also serve as a switch housing constituting the drive switch 72, and the drive switch 72 is arranged at the upper end portion of the handle 66 (grip portion 71). can do.
Further, the drive switch 72 is of a push-button type, and is arranged so that the push-button faces forward, so that the operator can operate the drive switch 72 with his thumb pointing upward when holding the handle 66.例文帳に追加

In addition, since the push button of the drive switch 72 is arranged at a position slightly recessed from the front end surface of the first projecting portion 67, the push button is normally not touched by a person, so that the operator may accidentally press the push button. It is possible to prevent erroneous operation such as pressing a button.

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 portion of the rod 53 , and the other end of the crank portion 54 is attached to the 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.

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.

In addition, the opening/closing signal of the drive switch 72 is input to the control unit 70, and the door 32 is in a raised position (the claws 36 and 38 of the door 32 and the container body 33 are disengaged), A signal is input from the door position sensor 75 detecting either the lowered position of the door 32 (the claws 36 and 38 of the door 32 and the container body 33 are engaged).

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.

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 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.

Further, in this embodiment, once the drive switch 72 is pressed by the operator, an opening/closing signal is output to the control unit 70, and the vertical movement of the door 32 is executed under the control of the control unit 70. Since the operator does not have to keep pressing the drive switch 72, the burden on the operator can be reduced.

The drive switch 72 described above is a single switch that controls both the opening of the door 32 (raising 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 embodiment, the door cover 34 does not move up and down, and the door 32 moves up and down inside the door cover 34 .
However, the structure may be such that the door 32 and the door cover 34 move up and down integrally.

In the above-described embodiments, the steam sterilization apparatus using a pressure vessel has been 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 movement mechanism 52 linear motion device 53 rod 54 crank 60 indicator 62 opening groove 64 protrusion 66 handle 67 first protrusion 68 second protrusion 70 control section 71 grip 72 open/close switch 75 door position sensor G Floor

Claims (4)

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;
a vertical movement device for vertically moving the door;
a drive switch for driving the vertical movement device;
a handle provided on the front side of the door for a worker to hold when opening the door outward;
The sterilizer, wherein the drive switch is provided on the handle. 2. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein said drive switch is provided at the upper end of said handle. 3. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the drive switch is a push button type switch, and the push button is directed forward. The handle is
a first projecting portion projecting forward from the front surface of the door;
a second projecting portion located a predetermined distance below the first projecting portion and projecting forward from the front surface of the door;
a gripping portion extending along the vertical direction so as to connect the first projecting portion and the second projecting portion;
The sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the drive switch is provided integrally with the first projecting portion.

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