JPH01158957A - Sterilizing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dispense with a wide clean room and an apparatus for sterilizing a circuit after assembling and to easily perform assembling and replacement by the reduced number of processes, by using a pinch cock in the connection of the terminal of piping and heating a joint part by a portable heater to provide sterilizable constitution. CONSTITUTION:In a liquid medium type raising seedling apparatus, pipings are connected to systems made aseptic independently and pinch cocks 31 for preventing bacteria from penetrating in respective systems are provided to the terminals PA, PB of the pipings while a joint tube 32 for mutually connecting both systems is provided, and the terminals PA, PB of the pipings, the pinch cocks 31 and the joint tube 32 are made aseptic by a heater 41. The heater 41 is constituted so that guide grooves 49, 50 for providing the pipings to frames 42, 43 are provided and heating is performed by the heater 44 provided in the frames and the heat insulating material 48 covering a joint part 3. After the necessary parts are made aseptic, the joint part 3 is taken out by the heater and the pinch cocks 31 are opened. Therefore, bacteria do not penetrate in the system from the joint part 3 and the connection of the apparatus is efficiently and certainly performed in the open air.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an improvement in a sterilization device for efficiently growing plants aseptically and on a large scale.

(Conventional technology) Conventionally, the method of culturing plant tissue and raising seedlings begins with a stage in which the plant tissue is grown by cutting a predetermined part of the plant and then placed on an agar medium in a container, and then transferred to a separate container. The plants are transplanted and progress to the stage of germination and rooting, and during this process, as necessary, containers are washed, sterilized in an autoclave, or worked in a clean bench to sterilize and prevent the invasion of bacteria. .

In this culture method, a nutrient medium is used to improve the transplantation work at each stage and the damage to the living body caused by the transplantation work, and to efficiently advance the stages and acclimatize the culture box, nutrient tank, drainage fluid, and gas supply. There is a system in which the core system is connected with piping, and the culture stage is advanced by exchanging the nutrient solution as needed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, there are the following problems in making the entire system sterile by proceeding through the culture stages.

■To make the entire system sterile, a large clean room is required to cover the entire device.

■If each device is sterilized individually and assembled on-site, the joints will be exposed to the outside air, allowing bacteria to enter through the joints.

After configuring the 0 circuit, it is difficult to sterilize the entire system while cultured plants are planted, and there are many cases where a part of the device is replaced, allowing bacteria to enter through the replacement part.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a device in which bacteria will not enter the system even if each device is individually sterilized and assembled in the open air.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) To this end, in the present invention, in a liquid medium type seedling growing device, the ends of the piping connected to the independently sterilized systems are prevented from invading each system by bacteria. The pinch cock, the joint tube for interconnecting the systems, the end of the piping, the pinch cock and the joint tube are sterilized using a heater.

This heater has a frame with a guide groove for installing piping, and is heated by a heater installed inside the frame and a heat insulating material surrounding the joint part inside the frame.
After the joint is sterilized by heating, the joint is removed using a heater and the pinch cock is opened, so that bacteria can be efficiently and reliably prevented from entering the system from the joint in the open air.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system using the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a liquid feeding pump 1 is connected to a joint part 3 made of a joint tube of the present invention or the like from a nutrient liquid tank 2.
(hereinafter referred to as joint part), valve cock 4 and piping 5
The nutrient solution is inhaled through the pipe 6, the valve cock 4, and the joint part 3 and discharged into the culture box 7.

At this time, the pipe 6 on the discharge side is branched in the middle and provides nutrient solution to the culture box 7-1, 7-2 used for germination, rooting, etc. through the pipe 6-1 valve cock 4 joint part 3, and the valve cock 4 -9 is connected to the discharge tank 8.

The nutrient solution tank 2 is connected to the outside air via a joint 3, a sterile filter 9, piping 10, and a breather 11.

Culture box 7.7-17. Outside air is sucked in by the air pump 12 through the breather 13 and piping 14, and the pressure is reduced by the pressure reducing valve 15 and sterilized by the sterilization filter 16. It is supplied via the pot 4 and the joint part 3.

Also, culture box 7.1-I, 7. A drain pipe 18 and an exhaust pipe 19 are connected to a drain tank 8 via a joint 3 and a valve cock 4.

Further, each of the culture boxes 7 is provided with a lamp 20 to illuminate the plants as necessary.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a configuration diagram and an assembly diagram of the joint portion 3 of the present invention.

In Fig. 2 (A), the pipes (5, 6, etc.) are the terminal ends PA and PI (hereinafter referred to as the terminal ends) of the system that requires sterility. It can be taken outside while maintaining the temperature.

In (b) of FIG. 2, this terminal end can be pushed into the joint tube 32 from both directions to easily connect the systems.

At this time, the piping uses flexible heat-resistant tubes such as Teflon and silicone, and the pinch cock 31 and joint tube 32 are also made of 582sus, spc, sep, etc.
and heat-resistant materials such as Teflon are used.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a sectional view and a perspective view of the heater 41 of the present invention.

In FIG. 3(A), the heater 41 is covered by an upper frame 42 and a lower frame 43, and has a heater 44, a heater plate 45, and a thermostat 46 inside, and keeps the joint part 3 at a constant temperature (approximately 150°C to Heat to 200°C.

At this time, a timer 47 may be provided to keep the heating time constant.

Heat insulators 48 such as glass wool are attached to the opposite side of the heater and are kept at uniform intervals around the joint 3 so that the entire joint 3 has a uniform temperature.

Also, at this time, the joint portion 3 may be heated from both sides by the heater 44.

In FIG. 3 (b), the upper frame 42 and the lower frame 43
Semicircular guide grooves 49 and 50 that match the shape of the pipes are provided in each of the pipes to eliminate irregularities in arrangement when installing the pipes on the heater plate 45, to facilitate installation, and to ensure airtightness when the lid is closed. It also improves sexual performance.

FIG. 4 shows the heater circuit of the heater 41 of the present invention.

The outlet 51 is inserted into a commercial power outlet (not shown) to obtain power. Wires 52 and 53 are connected to the outlet 51 and connected to a power switch 54, a heater 55, and a thermostat 56.

Further, an indicator 57 is provided between the power switch 54 and the thermostat 56, and is configured so that a lamp lights up when the power switch 54 is turned on.

Note that a timer 58 may be provided in the middle of the wires 52 and 53 to heat the wires for a certain period of time.

5 to 7 show a front view, a side view, and a plan view of the heater 41 of the present invention.

The upper frame 42 is opened and closed by a hinge 61. The operation of the power switch 54 and indicator 57 can be confirmed from the outside.

In addition, since power can be obtained from a commercial power source through the wiring 52, 53 and the outlet 51, the heater 41 can be transported to the joint section 3 of each device in the system.

Also, it may be always installed in the nutrient solution tank, sterilization filter 9.16, etc. to facilitate replacement.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

When assembling the entire system, each device, for example, when assembling the sending pump 1 to the nutrient solution tank 2 and culture box 7, the feeding pump 1, suction side piping 5, valve cock 4 and joint 3, and discharge side piping 6, Valve cock 4 and joint 3
Each unit is sterilized and assembled on a clean bench, the terminal end Pa of the pipe 5.6 is sealed with a pinch cock 31, and the pipe is transported to an installation location with outside air.

Similarly, the nutrient solution tank device and the culture box device, which have been sterilized and assembled in an autoclave and a clean bench, are transported to the installation site, and the ends of the piping of each device are connected with a joint tube 32.

Joint part 3 connected by joint tube 32
After being inserted into the heater 41, it is heated and sterilized.

After sterilization, it is taken out from the heater 41 and pinch cock 31
to complete the device connection.

Furthermore, after the apparatus is in operation, the nutrient solution tank 2, sterilization filter 16, culture box 7, etc. may be replaced in the same manner as described above by assembling the apparatus up to the piping and pinch cock 31 on a clean bench.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the present invention, a pinch cock is used to connect the end of the piping, and the joint part can be heated and sterilized with a transportable heater, making it possible to replace and assemble the device even in a place exposed to outside air. becomes.

This eliminates the need for a large clean room or a device for sterilizing the entire circuit after assembly, and provides excellent effects such as easy assembly and replacement with a short number of man-hours.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system using the present invention, Fig. 2 (A) and (B) are block diagrams and assembly diagrams of the joint part of the present invention, and Fig. 3 (A) and (B) are heating diagrams of the present invention. A sectional view and a perspective view of the device, FIG. 4 is a heater circuit diagram of the heater of the present invention,
FIG. 5 is a front view of the heater of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a side view of the heater of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the heater of the present invention. 1...Liquid feed pump 2...Nutritional solution tank 3...
・Joint part 4... Valve cock 5.6.10.
14.17.18.19,... Piping Pa, Pg...
Terminal end of piping 31... Pinch cock 32... Joint tube Applicant Komatsu Ltd. Agent (patent attorney) Oka 1) Wa Ki Figure 2 (a) 7 Go:: 2::: 2: Ding :--1st 2nd
Figure (b) Figure 5 Procedural amendment (method) % formula % 1. Indication of case Patent application No. 313398 of 1985
No.: Telephone: (03) 584 71i1 (Main) 4, Date of amendment order (shipping address): December 20, 1988 5, Column of title of invention of specification subject to amendment 6, Contents of amendment, page 1, 3 Correct "sterilizer" in the row to "sterilizer".

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a liquid medium type seedling raising device, the end of the piping connected to each independently sterilized system is connected to a pinch cock to prevent bacteria from entering each system, and a joint tube to connect the systems to each other. , end of pipe, pinch cock,
and a sterilization device characterized by sterilizing the joint tube with a heater. (2) Provide a guide groove for installing piping in the frame,
The heater according to claim 1, wherein the heater is heated by a heater provided inside the frame and a heat insulating material surrounding the joint part inside the frame to sterilize the joint part.