JPH01223397A - Glove box and environmental replacing inner cover for it - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the damage of a glove by expansion and the occurrence of contamination, oxygen deficiency accident and the like by forming to detach an inner cover from the inside thereof in a glove attaching port of a glove box body. CONSTITUTION:An inner cover 72 detachable from the inside thereof is set in a glove attaching port 52 of a glove box body 50. The inner cover 72 is a hollow structure and has a detaching locking part 74 while the port 52 on the outer circumference thereof, and a handle 76 is set on the outside surface thereof. At first, in order to attach the inner cover 72 to the port 52 the handle 76 of the inner cover 72 is pulled toward you. At this time the longer the as- engaged length b of the inner cover 72 to the as-projected length a for the inside of the port 52, the simpler the center fitting: a larger handle 76 is easy to operate. After being pulled, the handle 76 is rotated up to approximately a half revolution and the inner cover 72 is attached to the body 50. Thereafter, the glove 54 is folded in and an outer cover 56 is tightened. At this time replacement of the environment is ready.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention prevents expansion of the glove that occurs during atmosphere replacement by attaching an inner cover to the port when attaching the glove, thereby preventing damage to the glove and simplifying the device and operation. The present invention relates to a glove box that can achieve the following and an inner lid for atmosphere replacement used therein.

[Prior art] In special operations, it may be necessary to replace the atmosphere in the glove box from one type of gas to another. For example, impurities (such as oxygen or This is the case when metallic sodium is sampled for analysis of the concentration (hydrogen, etc.).

Sampling of the sodium coolant requires work inside a glove box because the sodium contains radioactive substances. Since sodium is active, if it is taken out into the air, it will react with the air and immediately turn into sodium oxide, so it is necessary to create an inert gas (for example, argon gas) atmosphere in the glove box before sampling. However, if the inert gas is simply introduced, air will remain inside the glove box, resulting in poor replacement efficiency.Therefore, first, a vacuum pump is used to evacuate the inside of the glove box, and then the inert gas is supplied.

An example of a conventional atmosphere replacement glove box is shown in FIG. 4. A glove box main body 10 is provided with a plurality of glove attachment holes 12, to which gloves 14 are attached in an airtight manner. For glove attachment, an outer cover 16 that can be opened and closed is provided on the outside of the port 12.
A flexible pipe 18 is connected and a globe source valve 20 is provided. The glove box main body IO and each glove source valve 20 are connected to a vacuum system and a fresh gas source.

The operating procedure of this atmosphere replacement glove box will be explained as follows along with other system configurations. This is a case where the air atmosphere is replaced with some kind of gas atmosphere, work is performed in that state, and then the air atmosphere is restored again.

■ Open each glove source valve 20, glove box internal pressure source valve 22, and glove box external pressure source valve 23.

(2) Start the vacuum pump 24 and open the valve 26 to start vacuuming the glove box. As the glove 14 inflates with this operation, the glove 14 is opened and closed while opening and closing the valve 28.
Adjust the pressure inside and outside.

■ Stop the evacuation operation of the vacuum pump 24, and close the valve 26.
Close 28.

(2) Open the valve 30 and adjust the valve 34 so that the pressure indicated by the pressure gauge 32 is constant. Furthermore, while checking the condition of the glove 14, the valve 36 is opened and closed to supply fresh gas.

■ When the pressure on the pressure gauge 38 reaches Okg/cm, close the valve 3.
Close 0,36.34.

■ Perform steps ■ to ■ at least twice.

■ Open the air intake valve 40 and valve 28 to let air into the outside of each globe 14.

■ To install each glove, remove the outer part 1i16 of the boat 12 and start work inside the glove box.

- After the work is completed, in order to restore the air atmosphere inside the glove box, connect the flexible piping 18 if it was removed for the work of attaching the outer cover 16.

[Phase] Perform steps ■ and ■ and remove the glove box body 10.
Make a vacuum inside.

■ Open the valve 40.26 and introduce air into the glove box body 10. Since the glove 14 inflates with this operation, the pressure inside and outside of the glove 14 is adjusted by opening and closing the valve 28.

O Perform steps ◎ to ■ at least twice.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the glove box of the conventional structure as described above, in order to replace the gas inside, the inside of the glove box is made into a vacuum state or gas is introduced into the glove box. A pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside.

For example, if the adjustment of the valve 28 is not successful in the procedure (3) above, a large pressure difference will occur between the inside and outside of the globe 14, causing the globe 14 to swell greatly as shown by the dashed line. Even if the value is constant, if the outer lid 16 is poorly tightened, only that glove will swell to a large extent, and the pressure balance with other gloves will be lost, making adjustment difficult. Furthermore, although the pressure of the glove is adjusted by the valve 28, if the valve 36 is operated erroneously, the expansion may be further accelerated and the glove may be damaged.

A similar problem occurs in the air replacement operation in step (1) above.

And if the gloves should break, it could lead to serious pollution accidents.

In this way, when replacing the atmosphere with the conventional technology, it is necessary to constantly monitor all the gloves and pressure gauges while adjusting the pressure inside and outside the glove, making the device configuration complicated and the operation complicated. The disadvantage was that it was time consuming.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art as described above, to prevent damage to the glove due to expansion, to prevent contamination and oxygen deficiency accidents, and to simplify and easily replace the atmosphere. Glove boxes and atmosphere replacement that can be carried out in a short time, simplify the configuration of fresh gas and vacuum system piping and valves, reduce costs, and simplify maintenance. The objective is to provide an inner lid for

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention, which can achieve the above object, is a glove box in which the glove box main body is attached to a boat, and an inner lid is provided on the boat, which is detachable from the inside.

Here, the inner lid may have a structure in which, for example, the peripheral edge of the lid has a portion for attaching and detaching the glove to the boat, and the outer surface is provided with a handle. It is desirable that this inner lid has a hollow structure to reduce weight and improve operability.

[Function] When replacing the atmosphere, attach the inner cover to the boat from the inside to install the glove. Then, the glove is housed in a space surrounded by the inner lid, the glove attachment boat, and the outer lid. When creating a vacuum inside the glove box body or introducing fresh gas into the glove box to replace the atmosphere, a large pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside of the glove.

However, in the present invention, since the area in which the glove can expand is restricted by the inner lid or the like, the glove does not expand beyond a certain amount, and therefore, the pressure adjustment operation inside and outside the glove, which was conventionally performed, becomes unnecessary.

As a result, the atmosphere replacement operation can be performed extremely easily and quickly, and the number of piping and valves for the vacuum system and fresh gas system can be reduced, making the device configuration extremely simple.

[Example] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a glove box and its attached vacuum system and fresh gas system according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the ■ part.

As in the conventional case, the glove box main body 50 has a plurality of glove attachment boats 52, and an outer M56 that can be opened and closed is provided on the outside of the boat 52. A pressure gauge 60 is connected to the glove box body 50 via a valve 58 to measure its internal pressure.

Connected to vacuum pump 64 via valve 62 and also connected to valve 66
It is connected to a pressure gauge 68 via a valve 70, and to a fresh gas supply via a valve 70.

As described above, in the present invention, as is clear from a comparison with FIG. 4 showing the prior art, piping, valves, etc. can be significantly made into cylindrical elements.

A feature of the present invention, as shown in detail in FIG. 2, is that the boat 52 is provided with an inner cover 72 that can be attached and detached from the inside for attaching gloves to the glove box main body 50. In order to improve operability, the inner lid 72 has a hollow structure, has a detachable engagement part 74 for glove attachment with the boat 52 on the outer periphery, and a handle 76 on the outer surface.
The attachment/detachment engaging portion 74 is configured to be easily attached/detachable by, for example, a screw-in method or a lock pin method, and the handle 76 has a rounded shape so as not to damage the glove.

To attach gloves, attach the inner cover 72 to the boat 52 as shown in FIGS. 3A-C. First, as shown in FIG. The larger the fitting length b of the inner lid 72 is relative to the inward protrusion length a of the inner lid 72, the easier the centering can be performed. Also, the thicker the handle 76 is, the easier it is to operate.
After the retraction is completed, turn the handle 76 to 1 as shown in Figure B.
Turn it about 72 turns and attach the inner part 1!72 to the glove box body 50. After attaching the inner cover 72, the glove 54 is folded up and the outer cover 1156 is tightened (see C in the figure), and the atmosphere is now ready to be replaced.

The operation procedure for the atmosphere replacement glove box having the above structure will now be described.

In this case, the air atmosphere is replaced with a certain type of gas atmosphere, the work is performed, and then the air atmosphere is restored again.

(2) To install each glove, attach the inner cover 72 to the boat 52 and open the glove box pressure source valve 58 as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C.

(2) Start the vacuum pump 64, open the valve 62, and start vacuuming the inside of the glove box.

■ Stop the evacuation operation of the vacuum pump 64 and close the vacuum pump 62.

(2) Open the valve 66 and adjust the valve 70 so that the pressure on the pressure gauge 68 is constant.

■ When the pressure on the pressure gauge 60 reaches Okg/cm, close the valve 6.
6. Close at 70.

■ Perform steps (■) to (■) above at least twice.

(2) Next, for each glove installation, remove the outer cover 56 and inner cover 72 of the port 52 and start work inside the glove box.

■ To restore the atmosphere inside the glove box to an airy atmosphere after work is completed, first go inside! [? 2, fold up the glove 54 and attach the outer M56.

■ Perform steps ■ to ■ above to vacuum the inside of the glove box.

[Phase] Opening the air introduction valve 80 and valve 62 introduces air into the glove box. 1 ■ Perform steps ② to [phase] above at least twice.

In the present invention, even if a large pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside of the glove, the pressure is adjusted because the glove will not expand beyond the volume surrounded by the inner lid 72, the glove attachment port 52, and the outer lid 56. There is no risk of the glove being damaged due to expansion even if it is not in use.Since the glove itself maintains the balance between the inside and outside of the glove box, the inner lid 72 does not require any special sealing performance.The inner lid 72 is always inside the glove box body. and is used only during atmosphere replacement operations.

[Effect of the invention 1] As described above, the glove of the glove box main body is attached to the port so that the inner cover can be attached and detached from the inside, so even if a pressure difference occurs in the glove during atmosphere replacement, the glove will not inflate. Since the size is limited by the inner and outer lids and does not inflate beyond a certain size, there is no risk of damage to the glove due to expansion, and this has the effect of preventing contamination and oxygen deficiency accidents caused by damage to the glove. There is.

In addition, since the present invention does not require pressure adjustment for each glove, the operation of replacing the atmosphere is significantly simplified and can be performed in a short time, and there is no risk of erroneous operation.
Furthermore, compared to conventional glove boxes, equipment such as vacuum systems and fresh gas systems (pipes, valves, etc.) are simplified, reducing the number of maintenance and failure items, making it a low-cost and highly reliable device. can be configured.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the glove box according to the present invention, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the detailed structure of the port for installing the glove box, and Figures 3A-C are for installing the inner cover. It is an explanatory diagram showing a state. Further, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional atmosphere replacement glove box. 50... Glove box body, 52... Glove installation port, 54... Glove, 56... Outer lid,
72...Inner lid, 74...Detachable engagement portion, 76...Handle. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the glove attachment port of the glove box body,
A glove box characterized by having an inner lid that is detachable from the inside. 2. The inner lid for atmosphere replacement used in a glove box according to claim 1, which has a detachable engagement portion with a glove attachment port on the peripheral portion and a handle on the outer surface.