JP7255048B2 - Monitoring system integrated in the safety cabinet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is incorporated in a safety cabinet comprising a cabinet in which a work space for performing work on a specimen is formed in a state isolated from the outside, and an opening that communicates the work space with the outside. Regarding the monitoring system.

Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-100318) includes a camera for photographing the work performed inside the sterile chamber and a monitor for displaying the photographed image. An aseptic work system is disclosed in which a confirmer can confirm whether or not there is a problem in a separate room (particularly, see claims 2 and 3 and FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1).

However, JP-A-2004-100000 primarily captures work procedures performed by an operator, and does not have a configuration for monitoring the intrusion of impurities (such as dust) into the sterile work space (inside the sterile chamber).

In other words, the isolator structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not include any elements through which impurities can enter. The part itself does not exist.

In addition, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-112061), in a safety cabinet, when the arm is brought into contact with the front suction port of the workbench, the air flow is disturbed. Assuming that the experiment operation must be performed without contacting the lower side and the front air intake, detection means shall be provided to detect the approach or contact of the operator's arm to the lower part of the front glass door and/or the air intake. It is stated to be set

JP 2015-100318 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-112061

However, Patent Literature 2 does not determine a sequence of situations in which the operator's arm is moved in and out of the opening. For this reason, it is a trigger to proceed with the work so that the operator's arm does not approach or contact the lower part of the front glass door and/or the air intake, but it is not possible to verify the cause of the air turbulence. .

The present invention addresses the turbulence of rectified air in the vicinity of the opening, which may occur when the operator's arm is moved in and out of the work space through the opening, which is the boundary between the work space and the outside. The aim is to have a monitoring system built into the safety cabinet that can verify the

A monitoring system incorporated in a safety cabinet according to a first invention includes a cabinet section in which a work space for performing work on a specimen in a state isolated from the outside is formed, and the work space is provided in the cabinet section and an opening communicating with the outside, and an air curtain rectified so as to partition the inside and the outside of the working space in order to prevent impurities from entering the working space from the opening. A monitoring system incorporated in a safety cabinet provided with a blower that generates a photographing unit for photographing a specific area including the work space in contact with the opening, and analyzing image information photographed by the photographing unit an acquisition unit for acquiring characteristic information including the position and movement speed of an operator's arm moving in and out of the work space through the opening; image information captured by the imaging unit; and an image information storage unit for storing the feature information obtained by the operation as history information to be used for abnormality determination inside the work space caused by disturbance of the air curtain .

According to the first invention, the specific area including the working space in contact with the opening is photographed by the photographing unit, the photographed image information is analyzed by the acquiring unit, and the operator moves in and out of the working space through the opening. Acquire feature information including arm position and movement speed.

By synchronizing and storing the history information of the image information captured by the imaging unit and the feature information acquired by the acquisition unit, for example, inappropriate movement of the arm during work can be verified at a later date. .

A monitoring system incorporated in a safety cabinet according to a second invention comprises a cabinet section in which a work space for performing work on a specimen in a state isolated from the outside is formed, wherein the work space is provided in the cabinet section and an opening communicating with the outside, and an air curtain rectified so as to partition the inside and the outside of the working space in order to prevent impurities from entering the working space from the opening. A monitoring system incorporated in a safety cabinet provided with a blower that generates a photographing unit for photographing a specific area including the work space in contact with the opening, and analyzing image information photographed by the photographing unit an acquisition unit for acquiring feature information including the position and movement speed of an operator's arm entering and leaving the work space through the opening; and based on the feature information acquired by the acquisition unit, the air a determination unit that determines whether or not the state of putting the arm in and out is inappropriate, which causes an abnormality in the work space due to disturbance of the curtain; and a reporting unit that, when determined, reports the inappropriateness objectively in real time for alerting .

According to the second invention, the photographing unit photographs the specific area including the work space in contact with the opening, the acquisition unit analyzes the photographed image information, and the operator moves in and out of the work space through the opening. acquire feature information, including arm position and movement speed.

The determination unit determines whether or not there is an abnormality in the movement of putting the arm in and out based on the characteristic information acquired by the acquisition unit, and notifies the result of the determination by the notification unit. For example, if there is inappropriate work in the operator's work (particularly arm movement), the operator or a supervisor other than the operator (both of them may be sufficient) is notified. This makes it possible to recognize in real time that the operator has performed inappropriate work (arm motion that deviates from predetermined conditions).

A third aspect of the present invention further includes an image information storage section that stores image information captured by the imaging section and the characteristic information acquired by the acquisition section as history information.

By storing the image information captured by the imaging unit and the feature information acquired by the acquisition unit as history information, for example, the state of movement of the arm during work can be verified at a later date.

A fourth aspect of the present invention further comprises a determination result storage section for storing determination result information by the determination section in synchronization with the history information.

By storing the determination result information by the determination unit in synchronization with the history information, for example, inappropriate movement of the arm during work can be verified at a later date.

In a fifth aspect of the present invention, when the history information is stored in the image information storage unit, the time point at which the movement of putting the arm in and out is determined to be inappropriate among the determination result information in the determination unit is used as a reference, and and storing the history information within a predetermined period of time.

If the movement of the arm in and out is appropriate, the image information at that time is of low importance. On the other hand, if the movement of the arm in and out is inappropriate, the image information at that time will be a material for proving the facts of the inappropriate movement, and the importance of the image information is high.

Therefore, when the history information is stored in the image information storage unit, history information within a range of a predetermined period before and after the point in time at which the movement of the arm in and out was determined to be inappropriate among the determination result information in the determination unit. is stored, the amount of information can be reduced, and image information with high importance can be extracted and stored.

As described above, according to the present invention, the rectified air in the vicinity of the opening, which may be generated when the operator's arm is moved into and out of the work space through the opening, which is the boundary between the work space and the outside, This is advantageous in that it is possible to verify the cause of the disturbance of .

1 is a plan view of a clean room according to this embodiment; FIG. 1 is a front view of a clean room according to this embodiment; FIG. 1 is a control block diagram showing a monitoring control system for a clean room according to this embodiment; FIG. It is a side view of the safety cabinet which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a side view of the safety cabinet according to the present embodiment, (A) is the state before the operator puts his arm into the opening of the safety cabinet, (B) is after the operator puts his arm into the opening of the safety cabinet. indicates the state of It is a top view of the safety cabinet which concerns on embodiment, and shows the state which the operator puts the arm in the opening part of the safety cabinet. It is a functional block diagram of a monitoring control unit provided in the safety cabinet according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a higher-level control section including a safety cabinet monitoring control section 30A and a clean room monitoring control section 30B according to the present embodiment; 4 is a flow chart showing a main routine of processing executed by a host controller according to the present embodiment; 4 is a flow chart showing a safety cabinet monitoring control routine executed by a monitoring control unit provided in the safety cabinet according to the present embodiment; 4 is a flow chart showing a clean room monitoring control routine according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a construction example of attaching the RFID sensor to the ceiling according to the modified example.

FIG. 1 shows a clean room 10 according to this embodiment.

The clean room 10 is a limited space in which contamination ("experimental contamination", "laboratory contamination", "sample contamination", etc.) is controlled, and airborne microparticles and airborne microorganisms are limited and cleaned. In addition, the required cleanliness is maintained for materials, chemicals, water, etc. supplied to the space, and environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and pressure are also controlled as necessary. say the space in which it is occupied.

That is, when the entrance 10A of the clean room 10 is closed, the space of the clean room 10 becomes a closed space with respect to the external space with the wall portion 10B forming the clean room 10 as a boundary.

In this embodiment, the clean room 10 is a rectangular space (see FIG. 1), but the spatial shape (floor surface shape) of the clean room 10 is not limited at all.

A clean room 10 according to the present embodiment is provided with a plurality of (six in FIG. 1) safety cabinets 12 .

As shown in FIG. 1, a clean room 10 is a rectangular space, and a plurality of safety cabinets 12 are arranged so as to abut against walls 10B on three sides without an entrance 10A. The shape of the clean room 10 (including the shape of the floor and the shape of the space) is not particularly limited, and the positions and number of the safety cabinets 12 are also not limited.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the clean room 10, omitting the ceiling portion 10C shown in FIG. 2 (in a transparent state) and showing the floor portion 10D.

Here, sensor portions 16 of a plurality of (nine in FIG. 1) RFID sensors 14 are attached to the ceiling portion 10</b>C of the clean room 10 . In addition, in this embodiment, the RFID sensor 14 is also attached to the safety cabinet 12 .

The RFID sensor 14 attached to the ceiling portion 10C will be mainly described below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the RFID sensors 14 are attached to the ceiling 10C of the clean room 10 in a predetermined arrangement pattern.

That is, when the ceiling portion 10C is virtually partitioned into a lattice (so-called grid pattern) to form the masses 18, the sensor portions 16 are attached to the centers of the masses 18 that are not adjacent to each other.

As shown in FIG. 3, the RFID sensor 14 has an RF unit 22 for supplying a control signal and power to the IC card 20 carried by the operator 60 via the sensor unit 16, and an RF unit 22 for receiving the RF unit 22. A control unit 24 for analyzing information from the IC card 20 and a power supply unit 26 for supplying power to the RF unit 22 and the control unit 24 are provided. The RFID sensor 14 attached to the safety cabinet 12 is distinguished as a sensor section 16K, but has the same function.

Although not shown, the IC card 20 includes an IC chip provided with a CPU, a memory, an encryption circuit, a power supply circuit, a modulation circuit, and a demodulation circuit, and an antenna section is connected to the demodulation circuit.

When the operator 60 carrying the IC card 20 enters the detection area AS (dotted line shown in FIGS. 3 and 2, roughly spherical shape) of the sensor unit 16 (16K), the RFID sensor 14 detects the sensor unit 16 and the IC. Electromagnetic induction occurs with the antenna section of the card 20, power is supplied to the IC card 20 side, and an operation of transmitting information is executed.

Here, the detection areas AS of the sensor sections 16 arranged alternately in units of the squares 18 have overlapping portions between adjacent ones. As a result, areas for acquiring information from the IC card 20 are classified into the following patterns.

(Pattern 1) Acquisition of information in the detection area AS where one sensor unit 16 overlaps

(Pattern 2) Acquisition of information in detection area AS where two sensors 16 overlap

(Pattern 3) Acquisition of information in detection area AS where three sensors 16 overlap

(Pattern 4) Acquisition of information in detection area AS where four sensor units 16 overlap

The control unit 24 of the RFID sensor 14 determines whether or not the IC card 20 carried by the operator 60 is present in the detection area AS of the RFID sensor 14 and, if present, identifies the individual operator 60 .

A plurality of RFID sensors 14 are connected to a host controller 30 via a communication network 28 (LAN, WAN, etc.).

The host control unit 30 aggregates the information from the control unit 24 of each RFID sensor 14, identifies the operator 60, and specifies the position (presence area). In other words, by dividing into the above-described four types of patterns (pattern 1 to pattern 4), it is possible to specify the position of the operator 60 in a presence area that is more subdivided than the number of RFID sensors 14 .

(safety cabinet 12)

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the detailed configuration of the safety cabinet 12. As shown in FIG.

The safety cabinet 12, for example, contains pathogens and the like contained in the specimen 50 so as not to leak, so that the operator 60 (see FIG. 2) who conducts the experiment may be infected with an infectious disease from the specimen 50, or may be infected with a harmful new pathogen. It is a housing structure that has a function to avoid the danger of leaking living things.

That is, the safety cabinet 12 has a workbench 52 and a support 54 including columns for supporting the workbench 52 . The workbench 52 is provided with a cabinet portion 58 that forms a predetermined work space 56 on the workbench 52 .

In the cabinet part 58, a panel 62 that transmits light with a predetermined transmittance is applied to the surface (the front surface, which is the right side surface when viewed from FIG. 4) facing when an operator 60 (see FIG. 2) is seated. there is The transmittance of the panel 62 is set so that the visual range of the operator 60 covers the entire working space 56 and does not hinder the work, and the transmittance of 100% is preferable in terms of design. In addition, depending on the type of specimen 50, a liquid crystal shutter or the like may be installed so that the transmittance can be adjusted. Further, a filter that cuts ultraviolet light, infrared light, and a portion of visible light may be detachable from the panel 62 .

As shown in FIG. 4, a predetermined gap is formed between the lower portion of the panel 62 and the upper surface of the workbench 52. As shown in FIG. This gap functions as an opening 62A for allowing the operator's 60 arms (including the upper arm, forearm, and fingers) to move in and out of the work space 56. As shown in FIG. In practice, the operator 60 often wears gloves on his arms (particularly long gloves longer than his elbows).

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the operator 60 can work on the specimen 50 by putting his arm (glove) in and out through the opening 62A (FIG. 6). reference).

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, a straightening device 64 is attached from the top to the back of the cabinet portion 58 .

A blower 66 , a filter section 68 , and a guide duct 70 , which form part of the rectifying device 64 , are provided on the upper portion of the cabinet section 58 . On the other hand, an air intake duct 72 that constitutes another part of the straightening device 64 is provided on the back surface of the cabinet portion 58 .

When the blower 66 operates, the atmosphere of the work space 56 is guided to the air intake duct 72 from the suction port 62B provided near the opening 62A in the workbench 52. As shown in FIG. The atmosphere flowing through the air intake duct 72 is sent through the filter section 68 (eg, HEP filter) to the guide duct 70, and part of it is returned to the work space 56 by the guide duct 70, and the other part is exhausted. It is designed to be

As a result, the atmosphere of the working space 56 is rectified with a downdraft flowing from the top to the bottom of the working space 56 as indicated by an arrow A (partially indicated) in FIG.

Since the downward air current is sucked by a suction port 62B provided near the opening 62A, a so-called air curtain is formed by the downward air current in the vicinity of the opening 62A. Therefore, gas containing impurities such as dust (see arrow B in FIG. 4) can be prevented from entering the working space 56 .

Also, if the amount of gas containing impurities that has entered by mistake is small, it can be immediately sucked into the suction port 62B and guided to the filter section 68 via the suction duct 72 .

Here, the position and movement speed of the arm of the operator 60 (see FIGS. 2 and 5) when moving through the opening 62A can be cited as factors for the erroneous intrusion of gas containing impurities.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, before the operator 60 puts his/her hand into the opening 62A, the air curtain is a rectified downdraft.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5(B), when the arm of the operator 60 moves in and out of the opening 62A, it is disturbed according to the moving speed. Disturbance of the air curtain is considered to be approximately proportional to the movement speed of the arm.

As shown in FIG. 6, within the work space 56, a proper region 74 and an improper region 76 are set with the position of the specimen 50 as a reference when the arm of the operator 60 is inserted through the opening 62A.

That is, it is determined that there is a high possibility that disturbance of the air curtain will adversely affect the specimen 50 when the operator 60 puts his/her arm in and out of the widthwise center of the opening 62A, and the inappropriate area 76 is set.

On the other hand, since both ends of the opening 62A in the width direction are relatively distant from the specimen 50, the turbulence of the air curtain is less likely to adversely affect the specimen 50, and is set in the appropriate region 74. .

Although the operator 60 recognizes the appropriate area 74 and the inappropriate area 76 and works, the operator 60 moves the arm from the inappropriate area by irregular actions such as concentrating on the work or being temporarily distracted. Sometimes.

Therefore, a camera 78 (see FIG. 4) capable of photographing the work space 56 is installed in the safety cabinet 12 of the present embodiment.

The optical axis of the camera 78 is directed toward the opening 62A, and photographs within a predetermined angular range around the optical axis (see dashed line C in FIG. 4).

The camera 78 is connected to the monitor control section 80 . As shown in FIG. 3, the monitoring control unit 80 is connected to the communication network 28 to which the RFID sensor 14 is connected, and is collectively managed by the host control unit 30 together with the RFID sensor 14 .

FIG. 7 shows a functional block diagram in which the processing executed by the monitoring control unit 80 is classified according to blocks. Note that each block does not limit the hardware configuration of the monitor control unit 80 .

The camera 78 is connected to the receiving section 82 , and the image data received by the receiving section 82 is transmitted to the upper control section 30 and also sent to the information analysis section 84 .

The information analysis unit 84 analyzes the image data received by the reception unit 82 and sends the analysis result to the position specifying unit 86 and the movement speed calculation unit 88 .

The position specifying unit 86 specifies the position of the arm of the operator 60 entering through the opening 62</b>A and sends the specified position information to the abnormality determination unit 90 .

Further, the movement speed calculator 88 calculates the position and speed of the arm of the operator 60 entering through the opening 62</b>A and sends the calculation result to the abnormality determination unit 90 .

A threshold storage unit 92 is connected to the abnormality determination unit 90 . The threshold storage unit 92 stores boundary line information of an appropriate region 74 and an inappropriate region 76 (see FIG. 6) that determine whether the position of the arm of the operator 60 in the vicinity of the opening 62A is good or bad. The permissible upper limit of the movement speed of the arm is stored.

The abnormality determination unit 90 compares the position of the arm with the boundary line information to determine whether the position of the arm is appropriate. Further, the abnormality determination unit 90 compares the movement speed of the arm with the allowable upper limit value to determine whether the movement speed of the arm is appropriate.

In the present embodiment, if it is determined to be inappropriate by any one of the comparison determinations, the notification control unit 94 is instructed to notify that the arm movement (position or movement speed) is inappropriate. to output

The notification control unit 94 uses a notification device to notify at least the seated operator 60 of improper arm movement (position or movement speed). In the present embodiment, a patrol lamp 96 (see FIG. 4) is attached to the safety cabinet 12 as a notification device for each safety cabinet 12 to alert the operator 60 visually. Note that the notification device may be an auditory alarm such as a buzzer, or both visual and auditory notification may be used. Furthermore, not limited to visual and auditory senses, other five senses may be used for notification.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram in which monitoring control is classified by function in the host control unit 30 that receives information from the RFID sensor 14 and the monitoring control unit 80 via the communication network 28. As shown in FIG. Note that each block does not limit the hardware configuration of the host controller 30 .

The host control unit 30 includes a safety cabinet monitoring control unit 30A that operates with input sources of information (video during work and abnormality determination) from a monitoring control unit 80 attached to the safety cabinet 12 (see FIG. 4), and a ceiling unit 10C. (and the safety cabinet 12).

The safety cabinet monitoring control unit 30A and the clean room monitoring control unit 30B can exchange information with each other. , are basically independently controlled.

(Safety cabinet monitoring control unit 30A)

The safety cabinet supervisory control unit 30A includes an information acquisition unit 100. As shown in FIG.

The information acquisition unit 100 obtains information (video information during work) captured by the camera 78 (see FIG. 4) from the monitoring control unit 80 attached to each of the safety cabinets 12 shown in FIG. Abnormality determination information is acquired.

The information acquisition unit 100 is connected to the storage processing unit 102 . The storage processing unit 102 stores the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 100 (work-in-progress moving image information and abnormality determination information) in the large-scale storage device 104 as work history information using the safety cabinet 12 .

The large-scale storage device 104 is connected to the information reader 106 . When a history information reading instruction is input from the outside (for example, an operation unit operated by an operator, etc.), the information reading unit 106 reads the history information of the corresponding period from the large-scale storage device 104, and outputs the output unit 108. output to an output device (for example, a monitor, etc.).

That is, the main purpose of the safety cabinet monitoring control section 30A of the host control section 30 is to collect the monitoring status of the work status in each safety cabinet 12 in the monitoring control section 80 and create a database.

With this database of history information, when the past information is to be checked in the safety cabinet 12, the history information can be immediately read out and can be checked on a monitor or printed paper media.

As an example, if an abnormality (contamination of impurities, etc.) occurs after the passage of time in the specimen 50 that has been worked in the safety cabinet 12, the work in the safety cabinet 12 can be retroactively checked. .

(Clean room monitoring control unit 30B)

The clean room monitoring control section 30B has an information receiving section 110 .

The information receiving unit 110 receives operator information detected by the sensor unit 16 (16K) of the RFID sensor 14 shown in FIG. The operator information includes presence/absence information indicating whether or not the operator 60 exists in the detection area AS, and identification information identifying the operator 60 if the operator 60 exists.

The information receiving section 110 is connected to the sensor position identifying section 112 . The sensor position specifying unit 112 receives the operator information received by the information receiving unit 110, specifies the information source of the operator information (that is, the position of the RFID sensor 14), and sends the operator information together with the specified position to the presence/absence determination unit 114. Send out.

The presence/absence determination unit 114 determines whether the operator 60 exists or not (that is, whether or not the operator 60 exists within the detection area AS monitored by each RFID sensor 14) from the operator information. If there is, it is sent to the operator identification unit 116 .

The operator identification unit 116 identifies the operator 60 from the detected identification information and sends it to the presence/absence information aggregation unit 118 .

The presence/absence information aggregation unit 118 is connected to the presence area recognition unit 120 and the moving speed analysis unit 122 .

The presence area recognition unit 120 recognizes the specified presence area of the operator 60 (any of the detection areas AS), and sends the recognition result to the abnormality determination unit 124 .

Further, the movement speed analysis unit 122 analyzes the movement speed based on the movement trajectory of the same operator 60 sequentially sent to the operator identification unit 116 and sends the movement speed information to the abnormality determination unit 124 .

The abnormality determination unit 124 determines that the position or movement of the operator 60 is abnormal based on the following determination requirements.

(Determination requirement 1) The distance to the safety cabinet 12 is shorter than a predetermined threshold.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when an operator 60A is working in the safety cabinet 12, if another operator 60B approaches the vicinity of the operator 60A, the surrounding air current may be disturbed or the operator 60A may come into contact with the operator. , may adversely affect the specimen 50 in the safety cabinet 12 .

Therefore, since the operator 60A can recognize that he is working in the safety cabinet 12 by identification, it is determined that the distance between the operator 60B moving the safety cabinet 12 and the safety cabinet 12 is shorter than the predetermined threshold value. anomaly is determined.

(Determination Requirement 2) The position of the operator 60 exists in a predetermined abnormal area in the clean room 10 .

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the position where the operator 60B is located is in a predetermined abnormal area, an abnormality determination is made by entering the abnormal area.

(Determination Requirement 3) The moving speed of the operator 60 is faster than a predetermined threshold.

For example, even if the operator 60 inadvertently runs short in order to quickly perform a task, it is determined to be abnormal in order to prevent an accident caused by the short run.

(Determination Requirement 4) The distance between a plurality of operators 60 is shorter than a predetermined threshold.

As shown in FIG. 2, when an operator 60A is working in the safety cabinet 12, not only other operators 60B are in the vicinity, but also multiple operators 60 unnecessarily approach in the clean room 10. etc., the possibility of an accident increases, so it is judged as an abnormality.

If any one of the determination requirements 1 to 4 is met, the abnormality determination unit 124 determines that there is an abnormality, and notifies the notification device via the notification control unit 126 . As the notification device, the patrol lamp 96 attached to the safety cabinet 12 may be used, or an alarm device provided in the clean room 10 or an alarm device owned by the operator 60 may be used.

Further, the content of the notification may be in a unified notification form regardless of the determination requirements, or may be in a different notification form for each determination requirement.

The information acquired by the existence area recognition unit 120, the movement speed analysis unit 122, and the abnormality determination unit 124 is stored in the large-scale storage device 104, and based on the history information readout instruction to the information readout unit 106 described above, It is possible to output to an output device (monitor, printer, etc.) via the output unit 108 . The information in the clean room monitoring control unit 30B may be stored in a storage device different from the large-scale storage device 104, and the control form may be completely independent of the safety cabinet monitoring control unit 30A.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 9 to 11. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a main routine of a series of monitoring controls in the host controller 30. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the host controller 30 collectively controls the monitoring of each safety cabinet 12 and the monitoring of the inside of the clean room 10. Monitoring may be controlled individually without being linked with each other. Also, in individual control, the information of the monitoring results may be linked with each other.

The main routine shown in FIG. 9 is activated when the power is turned on. First, in step 200, the execution of safety cabinet supervisory control and clean room supervisory control is instructed, and the process proceeds to step 202. FIG. Detailed control of each of the clean room supervisory control and the safety cabinet supervisory control will be described later (see FIGS. 10 and 11).

At step 202 , imaging information is acquired from the monitoring control section 80 of the safety cabinet 12 . In the next step 204 , the photographing information acquired from the monitor control unit 80 is stored in the large-scale storage device 104 as history information, and the process proceeds to step 206 .

In step 206, it is determined whether or not there has been an abnormal operation in the safety cabinet 12 (abnormal determination corresponding to the determination requirements 1 to 4 described above).

If an affirmative determination is made in step 206, the process proceeds to step 208, where the occurrence of the abnormal operation and the image of the abnormal operation (and the images before and after that) are stored in the large-scale storage device 104 as history information specific to the abnormal operation. Store and go to step 210 . The history information specific to an abnormal operation refers to image information specific to an abnormal operation, unlike image information that is constantly captured.

Also, if a negative determination is made in step 206 , the process proceeds to step 210 .

At step 210, it is determined whether or not there has been a request for history information.

If the determination in step 210 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 212 to read history information for a specified range (date, time, range specified by identified operator 60, etc.) from mass storage device 104, and then step 212. 214, the history information is output, and the process proceeds to step 216. FIG.

If a negative determination is made in step 210 , the process proceeds to step 216 .

In step 216, it is determined whether or not to continue monitoring, and if the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step 202 and the above steps are repeated.

If a negative determination is made in step 216, the process proceeds to step 218 to end the monitoring, instructs to end the safety cabinet monitoring control and the clean room monitoring control, and ends this routine.

It should be noted that monitoring control of only one of the safety cabinet monitoring control and the clean room monitoring control may be ended and monitoring control of the other may be continued.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing monitoring control in the safety cabinet 12 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, it is started by an instruction from the host controller 30, but the monitoring control of the safety cabinet 12 may be executed independently.

At step 250 , the camera 78 starts photographing, then the process proceeds to step 252 to transmit the photographed image information to the host controller 30 , and the process proceeds to step 254 .

In step 254, the photographed image information is analyzed, and the trajectory of the arm movement of the operator 60 is extracted.

The next step 256 is to determine if the operator's 60 arm has entered or left the safety cabinet 12 .

If an affirmative determination is made in step 256, the process proceeds to step 258 to specify the arm position of the operator 60, and then to step 260 to calculate the movement speed of the arm.

In the next step 262, a predetermined arm movement speed threshold value is read, and the process proceeds to step 264, where the movement speed calculated in step 260 is compared with the threshold value read in step 262 to determine the arm movement speed. determines whether the movement speed of is normal or abnormal.

In the next step 266, it is determined whether or not the determination result in step 264 is an abnormality determination, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 268, and there is a possibility that the air current of the air curtain in the opening 62A is disturbed. , the abnormality is reported, and the process proceeds to step 270 . If a negative determination is made in step 266 , the process proceeds to step 270 .

Notification of abnormality means activating the patrol lamp 96 provided for each safety cabinet 12 and notifying the host controller 30 . It should be noted that when the safety cabinet 12 is independently monitored and controlled, notification to the host controller 30 is unnecessary.

On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 256 (the operator 60 does not extend or retract his arm), the process proceeds to step 270 .

In step 270, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the monitoring control from the host controller 30. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 250 and the above steps are repeated. Also, if the determination at step 270 is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 272 to execute safety cabinet monitoring control end processing, and this routine ends.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing monitoring control in the clean room 10 according to this embodiment. In the present embodiment, activation is performed by an instruction from the host controller 30, but the monitoring control of the clean room 10 may be performed independently.

It is assumed that N RFID sensors 14 are provided in the clean room 10 (and the safety cabinet 12 within the clean room 10). Also, a variable n is used as means for individually specifying each of the RFID sensors 14, and the individual RFID sensors 14 are hereinafter identified by the expression RFID(n).

Step 300 sets a variable n equal to 1, then proceeds to step 302 to receive information from RFID(n) and proceeds to step 304 .

At step 304, the presence or absence of the operator 60 within the detection area AS under its jurisdiction is confirmed, and the process proceeds to step 306. FIG. At step 306, it is determined whether or not the presence of the operator 60 has been confirmed. identified and go to step 310 .

If a negative determination is made in step 306 , the process proceeds to step 310 .

At step 310, the presence/absence information of the operator 60 is stored in the large-scale storage device 104, then the process proceeds to step 312 to increment the variable n (n←n+1), and the process proceeds to step 314.

In step 314, the total number of RFID sensors 14, N, is compared with the variable n to determine whether N<n.

If the determination in step 314 is affirmative (N<n), it is determined that the circulation of all RFID sensors 14 has been completed, and the process proceeds to step 320 .

If a negative determination (N≧n) is made in step 314, it is determined that the circulation of all the RFID sensors 14 has not been completed. Return to step 300 and repeat the above steps. Also, if there is an instruction to terminate at step 316 (affirmative determination), the routine proceeds to step 318 to execute clean room monitoring control termination processing, and this routine ends.

If the determination in step 314 is affirmative (N<n), the inside of the clean room 10 has been thoroughly monitored, and the process proceeds to step 320 to read the presence/absence information stored in the large-scale storage device 104, and step 322. Move to

In step 322, the presence area of the operator 60 is specified based on the read presence/absence information. In this case, since there are areas in which the detection areas AS overlap each other, it is possible to specify areas (patterns 1 to 4 described above) that are more subdivided than the detection areas AS.

In the next step 324 , the moving speed of the operator 60 is analyzed based on the difference between the previous position of the same operator 60 and the current position, and the process proceeds to step 326 .

In step 326, the position information of the object to be monitored (for example, the safety cabinet 12, etc.) is read, and then the process proceeds to step 328, where the position or movement speed of the operator 60 is Determine whether it is normal or abnormal. As shown in the determination requirements 1 to 4, it can be seen that the objects to be monitored include the predetermined abnormal area and other operators 60 in addition to the safety cabinet 12 . Once again, the judgment requirements are shown below.

(Determination requirement 1) The distance to the safety cabinet 12 is shorter than a predetermined threshold.

(Determination Requirement 2) The position of the operator 60 exists in a predetermined abnormal area in the clean room 10 .

(Determination Requirement 3) The moving speed of the operator 60 is faster than a predetermined threshold.

(Determination Requirement 4) The distance between a plurality of operators 60 is shorter than a predetermined threshold.

In the next step 330, it is determined whether or not there is an abnormality determination. As the notification device, the patrol lamp 96 attached to the safety cabinet 12 may be used, or an alarm device provided in the clean room 10 or an alarm device owned by the operator 60 may be used.

If a negative determination is made in step 330, the process returns to step 300 and the above steps are repeated.

In step 334, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the monitoring control, and if a negative determination is made, the process returns to step 300 and the above steps are repeated. If the determination in step 334 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 318 to execute clean room monitoring control termination processing, and this routine ends.

Note that the safety cabinet 12 shown in this embodiment does not have to be inside the clean room 10 .

That is, the clean room 10 may be monitored for movement with or without the safety cabinet 12 .

Alternatively, the safety cabinet 12 alone may monitor the approach (insertion and withdrawal) of the operator's 60 arm.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the RFID sensor 14 is provided in the ceiling part 10C and the safety cabinet 12 as a monitoring part for monitoring the position and movement status of the operator 60. A camera that captures the The camera may be used to capture still images or moving images at regular intervals. Moreover, when the area to monitor the operator 60 is extremely narrow (eg, the operator 60 facing the safety cabinet), a human sensor such as a photoelectric sensor may be used.

(Effect of monitoring and controlling the safety cabinet 12)

Since the safety cabinet 12 must be provided with an opening 62A for the operator 60 to put his or her arm in and out of the work space 56, an air curtain is formed to prevent impurities such as dust from entering through the opening 62A. there is

According to the present embodiment, the camera 78 captures an image of the work space 56 centering on the opening 62A, analyzes the captured image information, and acquires the position and movement speed of the arm of the operator 60. Therefore, it is possible to quickly identify the situation caused by the turbulence of the air curtain airflow, so that the entry of impurities into the working space 56 can be suppressed.

Also, in the unlikely event that an impurity enters the work space 56, the work that caused it can be specified by leaving the captured image as a history.

(Effect of monitoring and controlling the clean room 10)

Since the clean room 10 is a closed space when the entrance 10A is closed, basically there is no entry of impurities such as dust from the outside, and suspended microparticles and suspended microorganisms in the air are limited and are kept below the cleanliness level. managed.

However, in the clean room 10, there is an area where the operator 60 is prevented from approaching unnecessarily. Problems (abnormalities) may occur due to movement of the operator 60 within the clean room 10, such as disturbing the airflow of the curtain.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the RFID sensor 14 is attached to the ceiling 10C and the safety cabinet 12, and the movement of the operator 60 is monitored in the detection area AS defined inside the clean room 10. FIG. Each detection area AS has an overlapping portion, and detection patterns (patterns 1 to 4) can be varied from detection by a single RFID sensor 14 to detection by two to four RFID sensors 14. , the position of the operator 60 can be specified in an area that is more subdivided than the detection area AS.

(Modification)

In this embodiment, the RFID sensor 14 is attached to the ceiling portion 10C of the clean room 10 . At this time, in the clean room 10, airborne microparticles and airborne microorganisms must be limited and must be managed below the cleanliness level. The space of the clean room 10 becomes a closed space with respect to the outside space by the portion 10D.

In other words, the clean room 10 cannot be easily retrofitted, such as attaching the RFID sensor 14 to the ceiling 10C, unlike a general living room.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. By combining them, they are installed in accordance with the construction of the clean room 10.例文帳に追加As a result, retrofitting of the RFID sensor 14 becomes unnecessary.

On the other hand, the RFID sensor 14 may be retrofitted to an existing clean room in which the RFID sensor 14 does not exist. In such a case, by replacing the panel P of the ceiling 10C with the built-in panel P (RF), it is possible to install the RFID sensor 14 with the minimum necessary construction process, and the closed state of the ceiling 10C is maintained. can do. Also, the RFID sensor 14 can be used outside the clean room. Further, the panel P of the ceiling section 10C can incorporate not only the RFID sensor 14 but also other equipment such as lighting.

10 clean room 10A entrance 10B wall 12 safety cabinet 10C ceiling 10D floor 14 RFID sensor 16, 16K sensor unit 18 mass 60 operator 20 IC card 22 RF unit 24 control unit 26 power supply unit AS detection area 28 communication network 30 host control Section 50 Specimen 52 Workbench 54 Support 56 Work Space 58 Cabinet Section 62 Panel 62A Opening 64 Straightening Device 66 Blower 68 Filter Section 70 Guide Duct 72 Intake Duct 74 Appropriate Area 76 Inappropriate Area 78 Camera (Photographing Unit)
80 monitor control unit (acquisition unit)
82 Reception unit 84 Information analysis unit 86 Position specifying unit 88 Movement speed calculation unit 90 Abnormality determination unit (determination unit)
92 threshold storage unit 94 notification control unit 96 patrol lamp (notification unit)
30A safety cabinet monitoring control unit 30B clean room monitoring control unit 100 information acquisition unit 102 storage processing unit 104 large-scale storage device (image information storage unit, determination result storage unit)
106 Information reading unit 108 Output unit 110 Information receiving unit 112 Sensor position specifying unit 114 Presence/absence determination unit 116 Operator specifying unit 118 Presence/absence information aggregation unit 120 Existence area recognition unit 122 Moving speed analysis unit 124 Abnormality determination unit 126 Notification control unit

Claims (1)

A cabinet section is provided in which a work space for performing work on a specimen in a state isolated from the outside is formed, the cabinet section is formed with an opening that communicates the work space with the outside, and A monitoring system incorporated in a safety cabinet equipped with a blower that creates a rectified air curtain to separate the interior and exterior of the work space to prevent impurities from entering the work space from the outside of the work space. and
a photographing unit that photographs a specific area including the work space that is in contact with the opening;
an acquisition unit that analyzes the image information captured by the imaging unit and acquires feature information including the position and movement speed of the arm of the operator who moves in and out of the work space through the opening;
An image in which the image information captured by the imaging unit and the feature information acquired by the acquisition unit are stored as history information used for determining an abnormality inside the work space caused by disturbance of the air curtain. an information storage unit;
monitoring system integrated in a safety cabinet with

Images