JP5093457B2 - centrifuge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a centrifuge for centrifuging a sample by rotating a rotor in which the sample is inserted.

  With this type of centrifuge, the user can set the operating conditions such as rotation speed, operation time (separation time), temperature (holding temperature), acceleration gradient, deceleration gradient, etc. from the operation panel according to the sample to be separated. Set. Then, the rotor into which the sample has been inserted is set in the rotation chamber, the door is closed, and the start switch on the operation panel unit is pressed to rotate the rotor. The rotor is accelerated and set to the rotational speed set on the operation panel unit, and when the set operation time elapses, the rotation of the rotor is automatically decelerated and stopped.

  By the way, when operating the centrifuge, the rotor set in the rotating chamber rotates at a high speed, so for safety, a lock mechanism is provided to lock the door so that the door does not open during operation of the centrifuge. ing.

  Here, the operation of the door lock mechanism will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a centrifuge. The illustrated centrifuge employs a system in which the door 3 is opened by the biasing force of a door spring 14 when the door 3 is open, and the door 3 is closed. When the door 3 is pushed downward by hand, the door 3 is closed, and when the door hook sensor 11 detects the door hook 4, the door lock mechanism 9 operates to enter the door lock state.
JP 2002-113390 A

  However, conventionally, when the door 3 of the centrifuge is closed as described above, the door 3 is closed by hand, the motor of the door lock mechanism 9 operates, and the door 3 is manually operated until the door lock is completed and the motor stops. If the hand is released during operation of the motor of the door lock mechanism 9, the door 3 may be opened and the door cannot be locked.

  Further, the user of the centrifuge needs to release his / her hand from the door 3 after hearing the stop sound of the motor of the door lock mechanism 9.

  However, it is difficult to distinguish the stop sound of the motor, and there is a problem that it is difficult to determine when to release the hand from the door 3.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an easy-to-use centrifuge that can recognize that the user has locked the door and can surely know when to release the door. There is.

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 includes a drive unit, a rotor that is rotationally driven by the drive unit, a rotation chamber that houses the rotor, a door that opens and closes the rotation chamber, and a door hook. A door lock mechanism for locking the door, a control unit for controlling the drive unit and the door lock mechanism, an operation panel unit for displaying operation condition settings and operation states, and notification of the end of the operation In the centrifuge having the notification sound generating means, the control device detects the door hook and drives the motor of the door lock mechanism when the door is closed, and the door lock sensor detects the door. When it is detected that the lock by the lock mechanism is completed, the driving of the motor is stopped, and controls to notify the user of the completion of the door lock in the notification sound generating means And wherein the door.

  According to the present invention, when the door of the centrifuge is closed by hand, the user can recognize that the door has been locked by displaying the buzzer sound and the operation panel section that the door has been locked. An easy-to-use centrifuge can be provided because the timing of releasing the hand is surely known.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, the basic configuration of a centrifuge according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a door of a centrifuge according to the present invention is opened, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the door of the centrifuge is closed.

  The illustrated centrifuge contains a rotating chamber 7, a control unit 8, a door lock mechanism 9, a door hook sensor 11, and a door lock sensor 10 inside a housing 12.

  The upper surface of the rotating chamber 7 is opened and closed by a door 3, and a rotatable rotor 5 is accommodated in the rotating chamber 7. The rotor 5 is rotationally driven by a drive unit 6, and the drive of the drive unit 6 is controlled by the control unit 8. The door 3 is always biased to the open side by a door spring 14.

  An operation panel unit 1 is provided at the upper part of the door 3, and a buzzer or speaker (not shown) is provided inside the operation panel unit 1, and this buzzer or speaker is connected to the centrifuge. It is used as a stop sound at the end of operation or an abnormality notification sound when an abnormality occurs. Here, the operation panel unit 1, the door lock mechanism 9, the door hook sensor 11, and the door lock sensor 10 are electrically connected to the control unit 8.

  In the centrifuge configured as described above, a user sets operation conditions such as a rotation speed, an operation time, a temperature, an acceleration gradient, and a deceleration gradient from the operation panel unit 1 according to a sample to be separated. Then, the rotor 5 in which the sample is inserted is set in the rotation chamber 7, the door 3 is closed by hand, and the start switch (not shown) provided on the operation panel unit 1 is pressed to start the operation of the centrifuge. .

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the door 3 is closed. At this time, the door lock mechanism 9 locks the door 3 via the door hook 4. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the door 3 is opened. When the door lock mechanism 9 releases the door lock, the door 3 closed as shown in FIG. Open like so.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation until the door lock is completed when the door 3 is closed.

  Wait until the door 3 is closed and the door hook sensor 11 detects the door hook 4 (step 100), and when the door hook sensor 11 detects the door hook 4 (when the determination result in step 100 is YES), the motor of the door lock mechanism 9 (Step 110), and waits until the door lock sensor 10 detects the door lock bar 13 (step 120). When the door lock sensor 10 detects the door lock bar 13 (when the determination result in step 120 is YES) ), The motor drive of the door lock mechanism 9 is stopped (step 130), and the centrifuge is generated by sounding the buzzer 2 using the buzzer for the stop sound at the end of the operation of the centrifuge when the door lock is completed. The user of the machine is notified (step 140).

  On the other hand, when the door lock sensor 10 cannot detect the door lock bar 13 in step 120 (when the determination result in step 100 is NO), the process waits until the door lock completion specified time elapses (step 150), and the door lock completion specification When the time has elapsed (when the determination result of step 150 is YES), the motor drive of the door lock mechanism 9 is stopped (step 160), and an alarm code is displayed on the operation panel unit 1 as an alarm that the door lock is abnormal. Is displayed.

  In this embodiment, the buzzer 2 is sounded to notify the user that the door lock has been completed in step 140, but instead of the buzzer, the operation panel unit 1 displays that the door lock has been completed. As shown in the front view of the operation panel unit 1 in FIG. 4, a method of displaying and blinking “CLOSE” on the rotation speed display unit 30 for several seconds is also effective. In addition, there is a method of using a buzzer and a display together.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the door 3 of the centrifuge is closed, a function for notifying that the door 3 is locked is provided, so that the user can lock the door 3. It is possible to recognize the timing of releasing the hand from the door 3 with certainty, and to provide an easy-to-use centrifuge.

It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the door of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention opened. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the door of the centrifuge concerning this invention closed. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation | movement of the door lock of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation panel part of the centrifuge which concerns on this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation panel part 2 Buzzer 3 Door 4 Door hook 5 Drive part 6 Motor 7 Rotating chamber 8 Control part 9 Door lock mechanism 10 Door lock sensor 11 Door hook sensor 12 Case 13 Door lock bar 14 Door spring

Claims (1)

A drive unit;
A rotor driven to rotate by the drive unit;
A rotating chamber that houses the rotor;
A door for opening and closing the rotating chamber;
A door lock mechanism that locks the door via a door hook ;
A control unit for controlling the drive unit and the door lock mechanism;
An operation panel for displaying operating condition settings and operating conditions,
In the centrifuge having a notification sound generating means for notifying the end of operation,
The controller is
When the door is closed, the door hook sensor detects the door hook and drives the motor of the door lock mechanism,
When the door lock sensor detects that the lock by the door lock mechanism is completed, the driving of the motor is stopped, and the notification sound generating means notifies the user of the completion of the door lock. Centrifuge.

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