JPH0549436B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a shielded cell having a manipulator consisting of a master arm and a slave arm and connecting parts between the arms.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shielded cell in which the slave arm can be replaced without breaking the seal of the cell. Such cells are often used to handle alpha emitters such as plutonium. Since alpha contamination risks arise from airborne substances, it is expected that any shielded cell will always have a high level of contamination of such airborne substances. In the past, alpha-emitting substances have been handled in chambers (sometimes called glove boxes).

The master-slave manipulator is sealed in a glove box and the slave arm is surrounded by a gaiter extending from the shoulder to the wrist. To remove the slave arm for maintenance or replacement,
The slave arm must go through a complicated procedure to introduce it into the protective bag, and high levels of contamination are likely to be maintained, creating the possibility that even small amounts of airborne contamination may reach the area occupied by the operator. Although this known procedure is very adequate for current limits of alpha contamination, for very small limits of alpha contamination (e.g., 1% of the currently accepted maximum allowable limit), a modification of removing the slave arm is recommended. A method is required. The present invention provides such an improved method.

According to the present invention, in a shielded cell having a manipulator consisting of a master arm, a slave arm sealed to the shielded cell, and a connecting part between the master arm and the slave arm, the connecting part can be disassembled and replaced to form a slave arm assembly. insertion of the slave arm into the shielded cell to replace the slave arm without breaking the seal of the shielded cell, the replacement slave arm assembly having a replacement seal and a replacement slave arm. , a temporary intermediate seal is provided in front of the replacement slave arm for sealing the opening of the sealed chamber of the shielding cell while the replacement slave arm is being advanced into position, the temporary intermediate seal being , connected to the support sleeve of the replacement slave arm by a flexible bag, the replacement slave arm being encased within the flexible bag and the support sleeve.

The present invention further provides a cell serving as a sealed chamber spaced apart from a shielding wall to create a space accessible to a protected operator, wherein the connecting parts of the manipulator are disassembled and the shielding wall and extends from the space to the sealed chamber such that a replacement slave arm assembly can be inserted from the space into the sealed chamber when the coupling parts are disassembled.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a shielding wall 10 allowing unprotected operator access to an area 11 and a sealed chamber 12 spaced from the wall 10 by a space 13.
A sealed cell consisting of is shown.

Master arm 14 and slave arm 15
A master/slave manipulator is shown, consisting of an arm and a connecting piece 16 between the two arms.

Part 16 has a number of sub-parts. These include a master arm support sleeve 21 located in an open tube 23 in wall 10 and sealed by a sealing ring 22, a removable fitting 24, and a chamber 1
slave arm support sleeve 2 in an open tube 27 of 2 and sealed by a ring 26;
5. Furthermore, the master arm is provided with a disassembly joint 20.

The fitting 20 is accessible to a normally unprotected operator in the area 11, and the fitting 24 between the wall 10 and the chamber 12 is accessible to an operator wearing protective clothing in the space 13. can.

In FIG. 2, coupling 20 and coupling 24 are shown in detail in an exploded state. The coupling 24 has a sleeve that is divided into an upper part 30 and a lower part 31, which parts are usually secured together by bolts 33. Each portion 30, 31 has a pair of grooved protrusions 34 (FIG. 4) that form a head 35.
, so that rotational movements can be transmitted from the flange 36 to the flange 37 of the parts 30, 31 and therefore to the flange 38. Parts 30, 31
When removed, linear reciprocating parts 40, 41 connected by a joint 42 are revealed. Parts 41
has a bellows 43 for sealing the part 41 in the passage through the flange 38. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the joint 42 is disconnected and the parts 40, 41 are separated. Fitting 20 is very similar in construction to fitting 24 and will not be described in detail.

In FIG. 5, the master/slave manipulator is separated into its parts and the disassembly procedure is shown. Arrow 50 moves the slave arm (represented by support sleeve 25) into the sealed chamber 12 and indicates the direction from which it can be removed via the air lock. Arrow 51 indicates master arm support sleeve 2
1 into a space 13 in which an operator wearing protective clothing collects the master arm support sleeve 21. The operator has assembled the disassembled fittings 24 in front of him. Master arm 14 is typically removed with disassembled fitting 20 by an unprotected operator. "old"
The exchange of the slave and the "new" arm takes place through tube 23 in the direction of arrow 51, through space 13 and then through tube 27 in the direction of arrow 50. Next, the joint 24 and the joint 20
can be assembled.

The split sleeve form of the joint 24 is not essential;
Other couplings capable of transmitting the required torque between flanges 36 and 38 may be provided. FIG. 6 shows the master arm support sleeve 21 of FIG. 1 and the slave arm support sleeve 25.
is in place, but the coupling 24 is removed and the replacement slave arm assembly 100 is attached to the wall 1.
0 and chamber 12 is shown. Assembly 100 includes a replacement slave arm support sleeve 125 having a sealing ring 126 and supporting slave arm 115.
An intermediate sealed cell body 101 in the form of a sleeve is provided, which has an outer sealing ring 102 and which is connected by a flexible bag 103 to the supporting sleeve 12.
It is connected to 5.

In FIG. 7, a protected operator in space 13 pushes sleeve 101 into tube 27 to move support sleeve 25 into chamber 12. In FIG.
As the bag 103 extends, the sealing ring 26 or 102 maintains the seal and there is no breach of the containment as the bag isolates the space 13 from the interior of the chamber 12. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, sleeve 125 is advanced into tube 27 to move sleeve 101 into the chamber. Since the sealing ring 102 or 126 maintains the seal together with the bag 103, there is no chance of the seal being broken again. Sleeve 101 and bag 103 can then be separated within chamber 12 by heat cutting the bag by a device within chamber 12 operated through the gloved hole.

The support sleeve 125 can then be connected to the support sleeve 21 by reconnecting the joint 24.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the support sleeve 21 can also be replaced before being connected to the sleeve 125 using the joint 24. A bag attachment ring 104 is attached to the inner end of tube 23 of wall 10, and a plastic bag 105 is attached to ring 104. The support sleeve 21 is replaced from the outside of the shielding wall 10 and is pushed into the bag by the support sleeve 121.
This prevents direct communication between the space 13 and the outside of the shielding wall 10. The bag 105 containing the support sleeve 21 may then be removed from the bag attachment ring 104 and heat sealed before being removed from the space. Next, replace the support sleeve 121 with the joint 2
4 can be connected to a replacement support sleeve 125. Joint 20 and master arm 1
4 is replaced in order to operate the manipulator anew.

The parts transferred into the chamber 12 may be left as waste on the floor of the chamber or may be removed into a shielded waste container through an opening provided for removal.

FIG. 11 shows a modified structure shown in a shielding cell with one shielding wall 210 (which may be wall 10 or wall 12). The open tube 223 of the wall 210 (or the tube 27 of the wall 12) is
Bag mounting ring 20 on the side of the wall exposed to radiation
It is equipped with 4. A bag 205 is attached to the ring 204 via the glove in the glove position;
The "old" assembly, which receives the "old" manipulator assembly 15 that is moved by the "new" manipulator assembly 215, is connected by the end sleeve 201 to the "new" support sleeve 225 by the bag 203. Then, it is pushed out from the tube 223. The sleeve 201 has a tube 22
3. The bag containing the "old" manipulator can then be removed and sealed. Sleeve 225 replaces sleeve 201 with the "new" manipulator.
Proceed through tube 223 until you hit . In this state, the bag 203 is compressed. Continued advancement of the manipulator positions sleeve 225 within tube 223 and causes sleeve 201 to fall into the storage area. Next, the bag 203 is removed from the sleeve 225. Gaiter manipulator 206
It is better to store it inside. A similar gaiter may be provided around the slave arm as shown in FIGS. 6-8.

A typical spacing between walls 10 and 12 in FIG. 1 is one meter. A typical manipulator slave arm is approximately 1.5 m to 2.0 m. 11th
As you can see from the figure, the manipulator is at the elbow 26.
0 and by bending the manipulator with the elbow it is possible to manipulate the manipulator in a space of 1 m. Thus, for example, in FIG. 6, replacement slave arm assembly 100
is shown aligned with the open tube for convenience, but in reality, the assembly 100 is first bent so that a protected operator within the space 13 can manipulate the working position.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view of a master/slave manipulator attached to a shielded cell according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the split sleeve parts of the two removal devices. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of one of the linear joints of the manipulator. FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the joint. FIG. 5 is a diagram of the disassembly procedure of the manipulator shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 6 to 8 are charts showing detailed procedures for replacing the manipulator slave arm. 9 and 10 show the procedure for replacing the manipulator. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a modified structure. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 12... Shielding cell, 14... Master arm, 15... Slave arm, 16... Connection component, 20... Removal device, 23... Opening tube, 100... Replacement slave unit, 10
1... Intermediate sealing body, 103... Sealing flexible gaiter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Master arm 14 and shielding cell 10, 1
In a shielded cell having a manipulator consisting of a slave arm 15 sealed to the master arm 14 and a connecting part 16 between the master arm 14 and the slave arm 15, the connecting part 16 can be disassembled and replaced by inserting the slave arm assembly 100. The slave arm 15 can be replaced by ejecting the arm 15 into the shielded cell without breaking the seal of the shielded cell, said replacement slave arm assembly 100 having a replacement seal 126 and a replacement slave arm 115. A temporary intermediate seal 101 is provided in front of the replacement slave arm 115 for sealing the opening of the sealed chamber 12 of the shielding cell while the replacement slave arm 115 is being advanced into position. The intermediate seal 101 is connected to the support sleeve 125 of the replacement slave arm 115 by a flexible bag 103, and the replacement slave arm 115
03 and is encased in a support sleeve 125. 2. The sealed chamber 12 of the shielded cell is spaced from the shielding wall 10 in order to create a space 13 accessible to the protected operator, the connecting piece 16 is disassembly and the sealed chamber 12 is separated from the shielding wall 10. The replacement slave arm assembly 100 is insertable into the sealed chamber 12 from the space 13 when the coupling part 16 is disassembled. shielded cell. 3. The connecting part 16 includes a slave arm support sleeve 25 sealed in the open tube 27 of the sealed chamber 12, a master arm support sleeve 21 sealed in the open tube 23 of the shielding wall 10,
A shielding cell according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a detachment device (24) with which the slave arm (15) can be detached from the master arm (14). 4. Another removal device 20 is provided between the master arm 14 and the master arm support sleeve 21 of the connecting part 16, and the removal device 2
4. Shielding cell according to claim 3, characterized in that 0 allows the master arm 14 to be removed from the master arm support sleeve 21 of the coupling part 16.