JP3855559B2 - centrifuge - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to temperature control of a centrifuge for cooling a separated sample to a constant temperature.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Separated samples include cells, genes, viruses, blood, etc. The temperature at the time of storage is very important, and it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature. Therefore, the rotor is cooled to a constant temperature by a refrigerator or the like so that the sample is not denatured due to a temperature rise due to the windage loss of the rotor during separation. The temperature in the rotor chamber is controlled by measuring the air in the rotor chamber or the wall temperature of the rotor chamber with a temperature sensor provided in the rotor chamber, apart from the centrifuge that rotates under reduced pressure. Control is performed so that the cooling by the refrigerator is moderately slow during rotation and is powerfully cooled during high-speed rotation where the windage loss increases.
[0003]
In a normal centrifugation operation, in the case of a sample requiring a certain temperature, the rotor chamber of the centrifuge is cooled in advance, and when the sample is ready, the sample is loaded into the rotor and rotated. When the separation is completed, the rotor or the sample loaded in the rotor is taken out, and the process proceeds to the next step. In order to dry the rotor chamber after a day of centrifuge work, the centrifuge is often turned off with the door open, and the power is turned on the next day to prepare for the centrifuge work. The set temperature of the rotor chamber is often used at a relatively low temperature of 4 ° C., and if the door is left open at a low temperature setting, frost will thickly adhere to the rotor chamber. When operating at high speed with a large windage loss load in this state, the frost in the rotor chamber begins to unravel and mix with the sample in the rotor, reducing the separation result, or causing water to enter the drive motor and cause failure. There was a case.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In order to prevent this, it is possible to turn off the refrigerator when the door is open. However, if the refrigerator is forcibly turned off, when the centrifuge is used, the refrigerator will not operate until then. As a result, the temperature in the rotor chamber rises to room temperature, and the rotor chamber has to be purposely cooled to a low temperature.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to cool the rotor chamber to some extent even when the door is opened so that the centrifuge can be used quickly when it is desired to perform a separation operation. In addition, even when the door is closed, even when there is no rotor inside, the rotor chamber is similarly cooled to some extent to improve usability.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The purpose is to cool the rotor chamber at a constant temperature that prevents frost from sticking to the rotor chamber separately from the set temperature when the door is open or when the door is closed and the rotor is not attached to the drive motor. Is achieved.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The temperature control of the centrifuge in the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a centrifuge in this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing temperature control of the centrifuge in this embodiment. The centrifuge main body holds a sample to be centrifuged and rotates a rotor 1 that rotates at high speed, a rotor motor 3 that houses the rotor 1 and cools the rotor 1, and a rotor chamber 3 for sealing the rotor chamber 3. A door 4, a door switch 5 that detects opening and closing of the door 4, a refrigerator 6 that cools the rotor chamber 3, a determination sensor 7 that detects and recognizes the rotor 1 loaded in the drive motor 2, and the rotor chamber 3 A temperature sensor 9 that measures the temperature of the motor 1, a control unit 8 that controls the drive motor 2, the door switch 5, the refrigerator 6, the rotor discrimination sensor 7, and the like, and an input unit 10 that inputs the holding temperature of the rotor 1. ing.
[0008]
The temperature control of the centrifuge configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIG. The control unit 8 of the centrifuge detects the open / closed state of the door 4 via the door switch 5 (step 210). When the door is opened, the rotor chamber 3 is cooled to a temperature at which the frost does not thickly adhere to the rotor chamber 3, so that the detected value of the temperature sensor 9 is compared with, for example, 15 ° C. or more (step 220). The reason why the comparative value of the temperature sensor is set to 15 ° C. is that, in the experiment using the centrifuge of this example, the temperature at which the frost does not adhere to the rotor chamber is about 15 ° C. In addition, if the preset temperature set from the input unit 10 for inputting the holding temperature of the rotor 1 is 4 ° C., for example, any temperature between room temperature and 4 ° C. may be used. If the detected value of the temperature sensor 9 is 15 ° C. or higher, the refrigerator 6 is turned on to cool the rotor chamber (step 230). On the contrary, when the detected value of the temperature sensor 9 is less than 15 ° C., the refrigerator 6 is turned off so that the rotor chamber 3 is not cooled (step 240). If the door 4 is closed, the rotor discrimination sensor 7 checks whether or not the rotor 1 is mounted (step 211). When the rotor 1 is mounted, the refrigerator 6 is controlled with a program determined in advance so that the rotor 1 reaches the set temperature in order to keep the temperature of the rotor 1 input from the input unit by the user. (Step 212). If the rotor 1 is not mounted, the process proceeds to step 220 in FIG. 2 to compare whether the detected value of the temperature sensor 9 is 15 ° C. or higher, and the rotor chamber 3 is cooled to the extent that frost does not adhere to the rotor chamber 3.
[0009]
As described above, the control unit 8 of the centrifuge is forcibly operated by controlling the rotor chamber 3 and the refrigerator 6 so as to have a constant temperature different from the set temperature or a constant temperature difference from the room temperature. The operation of stopping the refrigerator 6 is not necessary, and the work and waiting time for cooling the rotor chamber 3 that has once risen in temperature can be omitted, and the user can effectively use the separation time. . Furthermore, since generation of frost adhering to the inside of the rotor chamber 3 can be suppressed, water generated by frost melting by rotation can be mixed into the sample or water can be prevented from entering the drive motor 2. Needless to say, it is possible to prevent the failure of the apparatus and improve the life.
[0010]
Further, whether or not the rotor 1 is attached to the drive motor 2 can be determined by the discrimination sensor 7 provided in the door 4 or the rotor chamber 3, so that the temperature control of the refrigerator 6 can be automatically switched. is there.
[0011]
Furthermore, since condensation occurs at a temperature difference from room temperature, when the door 4 is open, the degree of condensation can be kept constant by controlling the temperature of the rotor chamber 3 at a constant temperature difference from room temperature.
[0012]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when the door of the centrifuge is open or when the door is closed and the rotor is not loaded in the drive motor, it is not necessary to forcibly stop the refrigerator. Can be cooled and can be centrifuged at a low temperature setting, so that the separation time can be made effective.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a centrifuge according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing temperature control of a centrifuge according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 is a rotor, 2 is a drive motor, 3 is a rotor chamber, 4 is a door, 5 is a door switch, 6 is a refrigerator, 7 is a rotor discrimination sensor, 8 is a control unit, 210 is step 210, 211 is steps 211 and 212 Steps 212 and 220 are Step 220, 230 is Step 230, and 240 is Step 240.

Claims (2)

A motor that is a driving source; a rotor that is rotated by the motor and that contains a sample; a rotor chamber that contains the rotor and is cooled by a refrigerator; a door that opens and closes the rotor chamber; and a door that opens and closes the door A centrifuge having a door switch for detection, and further comprising a control means for controlling the drive motor and the refrigerator, wherein the rotor is the drive motor when the door is opened or when the door is closed. If not attached, the temperature of the rotor chamber and the set temperature of the rotor separately, controlled at a constant temperature of the frost rotor chamber defined in advance before unattached between the set temperature and room temperature Centrifuge characterized by that.   The centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the constant temperature is controlled to be a constant difference from room temperature.

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