JPH018767Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Technical field) This invention has an opening/closing door like a steam sterilizer or gas sterilizer, and when in use, the interior is filled with steam, sterilizing gas, etc. at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. This invention relates to a door safety device for a pressure vessel that prevents the pressure vessel from being opened before the internal pressure is sufficiently lowered even after an evacuation operation is performed, or when the evacuation operation is forgotten.

(Background Art) Instruments, clothing, bandages, etc. used in hospitals and the like are cleaned and sterilized.

Steam sterilization, gas sterilization, etc. are used for sterilization, and these methods involve placing the object to be processed in a pressure vessel with a door, closing the door, and then supplying steam or sterilizing gas at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure into the container. It is then sterilized. After processing, the inside of the container is evacuated, the door is opened, and the object to be processed is taken out.

However, if the door is opened with gas pressure remaining in the container due to insufficient evacuation, or if the door is opened in such a hurry that the operator forgets to perform the evacuation procedure, the door opens suddenly and hits the worker, causing residual pressure to rise. Depending on the height, there is a risk of even death.

The door is equipped with a locking mechanism that is strong enough to withstand the internal pressure of the container and prevent it from opening, and is also equipped with a pressure gauge that indicates the internal pressure of the container.
This locking mechanism is released when opening the door, so it would be extremely dangerous if you were to do the work in such a hurry that you forgot to check the pressure gauge and suddenly opened the door even though the residual pressure was still high. It is a danger.

(Purpose of the present invention) This invention is aimed at obtaining a door safety device for a pressure vessel to prevent dangerous accidents such as those mentioned above from occurring.

(Structure of the present invention) In this invention, the door is provided with a bellows that expands and contracts according to the level of pressure introduced into the pressure vessel, and a lock arm whose one end is pivotally connected to the door and an end of the bellows that expands and contracts. The other end of the lock arm can be freely engaged and detached from the teeth of a gear plate connected to the collar that rotates when the door is opened. This is a pressure vessel door safety device that prevents the door from rotating and opening the door.

(Embodiment of the present invention) FIG. 1 schematically shows the appearance of a steam sterilizer in which this invention is implemented. A door 2 is attached to the open front side of a container 1 that accommodates objects to be processed, and a handle 3
Rotating clockwise (in the direction of arrow a) closes the door, and rotating it in the opposite direction opens the door. Although such a door opening/closing mechanism is well known, it will be briefly explained next.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a main shaft 6 is fixed at the center of a door plate made up of a frame board 4 and an inner board 5, and a collar 7 to which a handle 3 is attached is screwed to the main shaft 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes a disc in which the inner ends of a plurality of radiation rods 9 are pivotally mounted in the surrounding groove by an axis parallel to the main shaft 6, and the disc rotates within a certain angle range as the collar 7 rotates, and also rotates within a certain angle range as the collar 7 rotates. can be moved in the axial direction of the main shaft 6.

The outer end of the radiation rod 9 is inserted into a gate-shaped guide 10 attached to the frame plate 4.

When the handle 3 is rotated clockwise, the disc 8 rotates together with the collar 7, and the radiation rod 9 projects outward from the guide 10 and inserts its tip into the groove 1a around the opening of the vessel body 1. When the collar 7 is screwed onto the main shaft 6, as the disc 8 moves to the right in FIG. Due to the lever action, the door plate 5
is pressed around the opening of the vessel body 1 with packing 11 interposed therebetween, thereby strongly closing the opening of the vessel body.
The radiation rod 9 is a reinforcing member of the door and also a locking member.

When the handle 3 is turned counterclockwise, the door plate is loosened by the radiation rod 9, and the radiation rod is removed from the groove 1a on the front surface of the container, allowing the door to be opened. The structural parts of these doors are covered by an outer panel 23 with the handle 3 and collar 7 exposed.

Next, an embodiment of the safety device of the present invention attached to a door having such a known structure will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

A gear plate 12 having serrated teeth is located between the collar 7 and the disc 8 and is connected to the collar 7. A bellows 15 is housed in a case 14 that is supported by the lower part of the frame plate 4 via a bracket 13 and communicated with the outside air, as shown in FIG. 4, with its open lower end fixed to the case 14. The lower end of the transmission rod 16 is fixed to the free upper end.

A conduit 19 passes through the lower end of the case 14 from a socket 18 attached to the inner plate 5 to receive the internal pressure of the vessel through a small hole 17 (FIG. 2) to the bellows 1.
It leads to 5. The upper end of the transmission rod 16 is pivotally connected to the side surface of the lock arm 20. The lock arm 20 is pivotally attached to a bracket 21 fixed to the frame plate 4 by a shaft 22, and the other end is freely opposed to the teeth of the gear plate 12.

Next, the operation of this safety device will be explained.

Since it has the above structure, close the door 2,
When the handle 3 is grasped and the collar 7 is screwed into the main shaft 6, the tip of the radiation rod 9 engages with the groove 1a of the container body, and as the collar 7 continues to be screwed in, the door 2 is pressed against the container body 1 and the door 2 is closed. Closed airtight. At this time, the inside of the bellows 15 is at atmospheric pressure, so the transmission rod 16
is not pushed up, and the tip of the lock arm 20 is down and has come off the teeth of the gear plate 12. Therefore, the collar 7 can rotate freely.

Next, when steam is supplied into the container 1 and the disinfection process begins, the internal pressure of the container increases, but this pressure is
7. Bellows 1 through socket 18 and conduit 19
It's within 5. Since the inside of the case 14 is at atmospheric pressure, the bellows 15 extends and pushes up the lock arm 20 via the transmission rod 16, causing the tip of the arm 20 to face the teeth of the gear plate 12 as shown in FIG. . Therefore, it becomes impossible to rotate the handle 3 and collar 7 counterclockwise, and the door 2 cannot be opened.

This state will continue until the internal pressure has dropped to a level where there is no danger even if the door is opened (e.g. 0.2 kg/cm ² ), even if you start releasing pressure inside the container to open the door. Even though it is expensive, you can avoid the danger of opening the door. Even if you forget that the pressure inside the container is high and try to open the door, if the handle 3 does not move, you will naturally check the pressure gauge, and you will immediately realize that your operation was inappropriate.

As an auxiliary structure, the lock arm 20 includes a pin 24.
is planted, and this extends slightly from the front of the door through a vertically elongated hole 25 (FIG. 5) drilled in the outer panel 23. 26 indicates the condition of the pin 24 on the outer plate 2.
This is the label attached to 3. Therefore, the condition of the lock arm can be known from the outside by looking at the pin 24. That is, the lock arm 20 may be damaged due to clogging of the conduit 19, damage to the bellows 15, incorrect length adjustment of the transmission rod 16, etc.
Even if a malfunction occurs in which the valve does not operate normally, the malfunction can be detected by comparing the internal pressure indicated by the pressure gauge with the position of the pin 24 and by moving the pin with a finger. In addition, due to the loosening of the shaft 22 of the lock arm, it will no longer function as a safety device even if the tip of the arm does not properly oppose the teeth of the gear plate, but this condition can also occur if the pin is tilted, the amount of protrusion is abnormal, or This can be detected by checking the condition such as wobbling when held with one's fingers, and in any case, it can be easily detected by inspecting the work. If these failures occur, the outer panel 2
3 can be removed and repaired easily.

(Effects of the present invention) As can be seen from the above embodiments, the pressure vessel door safety device of the present invention does not allow the door to be opened by keeping the handle 3 immobile when the pressure inside the vessel is high and opening the door is dangerous. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the risk of serious personal injury caused by opening the door while the internal pressure is still high, which has a great effect on making the pressure vessel safe to handle.

This safety device can be used not only for the type of pressure vessel that closes the door using a radiation bar as shown in the example, but also for other types of pressure vessels that close the door by moving the bolt laterally based on the rotation of the handle. can do.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a steam sterilizer, and FIG. 2 is taken along A-A in FIG. 1.
3 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the door, FIG. 4 is a perspective view with a portion of the bellows portion cut away, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the pin 24 and label 26. It is. 1: Vessel, 1a: Groove, 2: Door, 3: Handle,
4: Frame board, 5: Inner board, 6: Main shaft, 7: Collar,
8: Disc, 9: Radiation rod, 10: Guide, 11: Packing, 12: Gear plate, 13: Bracket, 1
4: Case, 15: Bellows, 16: Transmission rod, 1
7: Small hole, 18: Socket, 19: Conduit, 20:
Lock arm, 21: Bracket, 22: Axis, 23:
Outer plate, 24: pin, 25: vertical hole, 26: label.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a pressure vessel whose door is opened and closed by rotation of a collar 7 which is screwed onto a main shaft 6 fixed to a door plate and has a handle 3 attached thereto, a bellows 15 which expands and contracts when the internal pressure of the container is introduced through a conduit 19 is provided in the door. One end of the transmission rod 16 is connected to the free end of the bellows 15 that moves with expansion and contraction, and the other end of the transmission rod 16 is pivotally connected to the lock arm 20 whose one end is pivotally connected to the door, and the gear plate 12 is connected to the collar 7. The other free end of the lock arm 20 can be freely engaged and disengaged from the teeth of the gear plate 12 by rotation of the lock arm based on the expansion and contraction of the bellows 15, so that the rotation of the collar 7 can be made free or disabled. Pressure vessel door safety device.