JPH0242289Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to protective clothing used when entering and exiting from a general area to a special contaminated area or a work area such as a clean room. The present invention relates to a protective garment that has been improved and has an airtight gate provided inside the connecting cylindrical portion to further improve the reliability and safety of attachment and detachment.

When working in a radioactively contaminated area of a nuclear facility, it is necessary to wear protective clothing, and this is especially necessary at plutonium-related facilities. Of course, it is used not only during routine work, but also for emergency access in the event of an accident. Furthermore, even in fields other than nuclear power, in areas where hazardous substances are handled, clean rooms, etc., workers working inside are required to wear clothing that isolates them from the internal space. In this way, when entering and exiting work areas such as contaminated areas and clean rooms while wearing protective clothing, in order to prevent contamination of workers and people other than the work area, it is necessary to control contamination when putting on and taking off protective clothing, or to maintain a clean state. Maintaining this has become a major issue.

For example, when working in an area contaminated with radioactive materials, the two methods for putting on and taking off protective clothing are the La Carene method (a method that uses special seals to control contamination and a dedicated protective clothing donning and doffing device) and the oversuit method. There have been two types of methods (a method in which a suit cover for contamination control is worn over the protective suit and removed in a contamination buffer room), but these conventional methods have drawbacks, and we have not considered a method that can solve these problems. Protective clothing equipped with a connecting tube has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-135797).
(see issue). This protective clothing includes a connecting cylindrical body whose one end is connected to an opening for worker entry and exit of the main body of the protective clothing, and whose other end is connectable to an entrance/exit port, and the connecting cylindrical body After the worker enters the protective clothing through the protective clothing, the connecting cylindrical body is sealed and cut, allowing the worker to isolate the contaminated area and the inside and outside of the protective clothing, and to move freely while wearing the protective clothing.

Protective clothing with this structure has a significant advantage over the conventional method described above, but according to experience in actual use, since the connecting tubular part and the main body of the protective clothing are in the same space, it is difficult to wear the protective clothing. It has been found that it has the following drawbacks:

a) The air pressure inside the connecting tube increases due to the air supplied into the protective clothing, causing a bulge.
It was difficult to fusion seal the connecting cylindrical part.

b The remaining part of the connecting cylindrical part on the protective clothing side is folded and stored in the protective clothing body, but it takes a lot of time to remove the air remaining in the remaining part of the connecting cylindrical part on the protective clothing side. The containment work was quite difficult.

c Therefore, in order to remove this residual air, it is conceivable to pressurize the connecting cylindrical part from the outside, but such an operation is not preferable from the viewpoint of safety.

When putting on and taking off protective clothing that has a cylindrical connection part, fusing the end of the connection part is extremely important to ensure the packaging of the protective clothing, so it must be possible to do it easily and reliably. There has been a strong desire to develop a protective suit in which the remaining part of the suit can be folded more easily and safely after the cylindrical part is fused in the middle and separated from the entrance/exit port.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and to provide protective clothing that can be easily, quickly, and reliably put on and taken off, and that can significantly improve safety.

The present invention, which was devised to achieve such an object, is a protective suit with a connecting tubular body, in which an airtight gate is provided inside the connecting tubular body so that the gas inside the body of the protective suit is prevented from leaking through the connecting tubular body. It was devised to prevent water from leaking towards the shaped part, and its feature lies in the provision of such an airtight gate.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of protective clothing according to the present invention. This protective clothing consists of protective clothing body 1
A connecting cylindrical body 3 whose one end is connected to the periphery of the worker entrance/exit opening 2; This structure has an airtight gate 4 to which the parts are connected. The other end of the connecting cylindrical body 3 is connected to a worker entrance provided in the partition wall between the general area and the work area, and the worker can access the connecting cylindrical body 3 and the airtight It is possible to enter the protective suit body 1 through the opening 5 of the gate 4. By sealing and cutting the connecting cylindrical body 3, it is possible to separate the protective clothing from the worker entrance while maintaining isolation between the inside and outside of the work area and the inside and outside of the protective clothing. 5 is closed, it prevents the flow of gas from the inside of the protective suit body 1 into the connecting cylindrical body 3. Note that the reference numeral 6 indicates an exhaust device such as a check valve.

The connecting cylindrical body 3 is made of, for example, polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene, which has sufficient blocking ability against radioactive substances and other harmful substances, and can be fused by high frequency sealing, heat sealing, or other methods. It is made of film-like material.

The method for sealing the opening 5 of the airtight date 4 is as follows:
Any method such as adhesion, binding, sealing with an airtight chuck, fixing with adhesive tape, etc., or a combination thereof can be used. In addition, since the inside and outside of the protective clothing are isolated, breathing air for workers inside the suit will be ensured by the following methods.

a. If the worker carries an air or oxygen cylinder,
Exhaled air is discharged outside the protective clothing through a filter fixed to the protective clothing.

b. Carry an oxygen generating device that uses a chemical reaction. In other words, it is circulated within the protective suit in the following order: exhalation → oxygen generation → inhalation. The heat of reaction during oxygen generation is released outside the suit by a heat exchanger fixed to the suit.

c Connect the protective clothing and the outside of the work area with an airline hose to ensure that breathing air for workers is supplied from outside the work area.

Now, FIG. 2 shows an example of the use of the protective clothing according to the present invention. The end of the connecting cylindrical body 3 connected to the protective clothing main body 1 is connected to the partition wall 1 between the general area and the special area.
It is attached to the worker entrance/exit 11 provided at 0 with an O-ring 12, a gasket 13, and a fastener 14 (see A in the same figure). The workers are
It passes through this connecting cylindrical body 3 and enters the protective suit main body 1 through the opening 5 of the airtight gate 4. Before or after the worker enters the protective clothing body 1, an adhesive tape 7 is attached to the inner surface of the connecting cylindrical body 3. This adhesive tape 7 is used to prevent fusion when detaching, and is used to fusion-bond with, for example, tetrafluoroethylene resin or paper when fusion-bonding the connecting cylindrical body 3. It is made of a material that does not bind and is pasted over a length of more than half the circumference of the connecting cylindrical body 3.

After the worker enters the protective suit body 1, the airtight chuck attached to the tip of the opening 5 of the airtight gate 4 is closed to maintain a sufficient seal to prevent air leakage (see Figure (See B). next,
Fold back the connecting cylindrical body 3 as shown by symbol a,
The air inside the connecting cylindrical body 3 is exhausted by the exhaust device 15 . As mentioned above, when the airtight gate 4 is closed, the flow of gas from the inside of the protective suit body 1 to the connecting cylindrical body 3 is blocked, so only the gas inside the connecting cylindrical body 3 is discharged. Ru. As a result, the connecting cylindrical body 3 becomes flat, so that the folded portion a can be easily attached to the fusion device. The state after fusion is shown in Figure C. Note that, in order to make the drawings easier to understand, this fused portion is also indicated by the symbol a.

Furthermore, as shown in figure D, the first fusion part a
is sent toward the protective suit main body 1, a folded part b is made again, and a second fusion is performed. Thereafter, the connecting cylindrical body 3 is cut at a position between the fused parts a and b (indicated by a dashed line c) (see E in the figure). As shown in Figure F, the worker inside the protective suit folds the remaining portion of the disconnected connection tube near the protective clothing and stores it in the protective clothing, but the air remaining in this remaining portion If it is fed into the protective suit main body 1 through the exhaust device 6, it can be folded very compactly and quickly. After that, you will need to put on the necessary protective gear before starting work.

FIG. 3 shows the procedure for taking off the protective clothing. As shown in FIG.
, and remove the remaining part of the connecting tube that is folded near the chest. Then, the removed remaining portion 3 is inserted and fitted into the remaining portion on the partition wall side of the connecting cylindrical body held in the entrance/exit 11, that is, the bag-shaped portion 8 (see FIG. B).

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the portion d to which the adhesive tape 7 for preventing fusion is pasted is stacked in four layers and fused together with a width narrower than the width of the adhesive tape. Although the work involves fusing four layers, it is easy to perform the fusing work because the air is evacuated and the flat state is maintained. Then, the fused portion is cut at the center e. Adhesive tape 7
Since the welding work is done through the connection cylindrical body 3
can be opened. Next, by opening the airtight chuck attached to the tip of the opening 5 of the airtight gate 4, the worker can exit from the protective clothing main body 1 through the connecting tubular body 3 and through the entrance 11 (see D in the same figure).
reference).

Incidentally, since this state is the same as that shown in FIG. 2A, the same protective clothing can be worn again by repeating the same procedure as described above.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of FIG. 2B. After the worker enters the protective clothing main body 1, the opening 5 of the airtight gate 4 is closed to maintain sufficient airtightness to prevent air circulation. Before the folded portion a is fused, the air inside the connecting cylindrical body 3 is exhausted by an exhaust device 15 through an exhaust port 16 provided with necessary protection against radioactive substances attached thereto. As a result, the connecting cylindrical body 3 becomes flat, so that it can be easily fused and stored.

Since the present invention is a protective suit constructed as described above, it has the same advantages as the conventional technology due to the provision of a cylindrical body for connection.In other words, the protective suit can be attached and detached only through the cylindrical entrance and exit, so it does not require the use of existing equipment. It is easily available in facilities, and since the separation of inside and outside work areas is clearly defined through entrances and exits, there is no need to control contamination through layers of protective clothing, and the amount of waste generated when entering and exiting contaminated areas is greatly reduced. Not only does it have the effect of reducing the amount of gas, but since it is equipped with an airtight gate, the gas inside the connecting cylinder can be exhausted, making the welding process easier and more reliable.
Since residual gas between the disconnected connecting tube and the airtight gate can be easily exhausted, the connecting tube can be folded and stored in the chest quickly and easily.Furthermore, when removing protective clothing, Since there is no residual gas in the connecting tubular body and it is flat, it is easy to stack four pieces of adhesive tape on the part where adhesive tape is attached, making it possible to quickly and reliably perform fusion work, making it easier to attach and detach. It can be carried out easily, quickly, and reliably, and has extremely high practical effects in that it can significantly improve safety.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the protective clothing according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the procedure for putting on the protective clothing, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the procedure for taking it off, and Fig. 4 is the illustration in Fig. 2. B
It is an explanatory view showing a modification of . 1... Protective suit body, 2... Opening for worker access, 3... Connection tubular body, 4... Airtight gate, 5
...opening, 10...compartment wall, 11...worker entrance/exit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A connecting cylindrical body whose one end is connected to the worker entrance/exit opening of the main body of the protective clothing, and the other end of the connecting cylindrical body is connected to the general area and the working area. It is connected to the worker entrance/exit provided in the partition wall between the work area and the worker, and after the worker enters the protective clothing through the connecting tubular body, there is a In the protective clothing with a connecting cylindrical body that allows free movement when wearing by sealing and cutting the connecting cylindrical body while maintaining isolation, the protective clothing is located inside the connecting cylindrical body. The main body has an opening that can be opened and closed for entry and exit by the worker, and in the open state, the worker can pass through, and in the closed state, gas flows from at least the main body of the protective suit to the inside of the connecting cylindrical body. Protective clothing equipped with an airtight gate, characterized in that it is provided with an airtight gate that has the function of preventing. 2. The protective clothing according to claim 1, wherein the airtight gate has a function of only allowing gas to flow from the inside of the connecting cylindrical body into the protective clothing body. 3. The protective clothing according to claim 2, which is a utility model registration, in which the function of only allowing gas to flow from the cylindrical body side into the protective clothing main body is provided by a check valve.