JPH0551100U - Incubator chemical supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To reduce production costs and shorten sterilization processing time. [Structure] A chemical liquid tank 2 provided at a position higher than the culture tank 1.
The other end of the drug solution supply pipe 3 whose one end is connected to the bottom of the above is communicated with the culture tank 1. The opening / closing valve 6 provided in the middle of the chemical liquid supply pipe 3 is opened / closed by an actuator 7 driven by compressed air. A throttle valve 12 is provided between the four-way valve 9 that controls the supply / discharge state of the actuator 7 and the discharge port of the compressor 11.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The chemical solution supply device of the culture device according to the present invention is incorporated into a culture device for culturing various microorganisms or plant cells, and is used for supplying a predetermined amount of the chemical liquid into the culture tank.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, it has been widely practiced to culture various microorganisms and plant cells by using a culture device called a jar fermenter, a bioreactor or the like. When performing the culturing work, the above-mentioned microorganisms and plant cells are put together with the culture solution into the culture tank constituting the culture apparatus, and the temperature, oxygen concentration, nutrient concentration, PH value, etc. of the culture solution are maintained at desired values. At the same time, the above culture solution is stirred.

When the nutrient concentration or PH value in the above culture solution does not reach a desired value as the culture work progresses, the nutrient solution, acid, alkali, or other chemical solution is placed in the culture tank. Inject only a fixed amount to adjust the nutrient concentration and PH value.

For this reason, conventionally, the culture apparatus has been provided with a drug solution feeder as shown in FIG. This chemical solution supply device is provided with a chemical solution tank 2 provided at a position higher than the culture tank 1, a chemical solution supply pipe 3 connecting the bottom of the chemical solution tank 2 and the culture tank 1, and a chemical solution supply pipe 3 in the middle thereof. An on-off valve 4 is provided which opens and closes the flow path by supplying compressed air, and a throttle valve 5 which is provided between the on-off valve 4 and the culture tank 1 in the middle of the drug solution supply pipe 3. ..

When supplying a predetermined amount of the chemical solution to the culture tank 1, compressed air is sent to the drive unit of the opening / closing valve 4 for a predetermined time, and the opening / closing valve 4 is opened for a predetermined time. As a result, the drug solution in the drug solution tank 2 is fed into the culture tank 1 through the on-off valve 4 and the throttle valve 5.

The throttling valve 5 is provided for feeding a desired amount of the chemical solution into the culture tank 1. That is, it is difficult to control the opening degree of the on-off valve 4 which is opened by the supply of compressed air, and it is almost fully opened with the supply of compressed air, while the culture solution fed from the chemical solution tank 2 to the culture tank 1 is cultured. The volume of each liquid is small. Therefore, conventionally, the flow rate is adjusted by the throttle valve 5 and the opening time of the on-off valve 4 is adjusted so that a desired amount of the chemical solution is fed into the culture tank 1.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the case of the conventional liquid supply device for the culture device configured and functioning as described above, there were the following problems to be solved.

First, as a first problem, the throttle valve 5 is expensive, which causes the manufacturing cost of the chemical liquid supply device to be high. That is, the throttle valve 5 that allows a chemical liquid such as acid or alkali to pass through must be made of stainless steel in order to prevent corrosion by the chemical liquid. Therefore, it is inevitable that the throttle valve 5 becomes expensive.

As a second problem, by providing the throttle valve 5 in the middle of the chemical liquid supply pipe 3, the sterilization processing time of the chemical liquid supply pipe 3 and the opening / closing valve 4 becomes long. That is, in order to prevent miscellaneous bacteria from mixing into the culture tank 1, the chemical solution tank 2, the chemical solution supply pipe 3, the on-off valve 4, and the throttle valve 5 are exposed to high temperature steam before starting the operation of the culture device. Perform heat sterilization. However, if the throttle valve 5 is provided in the middle of the chemical solution supply pipe 3, the amount of water vapor circulated in the chemical solution supply tube 3 is limited in a certain time, and the heat sterilization process takes a long time. turn into.

The chemical liquid supply device of the culture device of the present invention solves any of these problems.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems A chemical liquid supply device for a culture device of the present invention comprises a chemical liquid tank provided at a position higher than a culture tank, and a chemical liquid supply pipe connecting the bottom of the chemical liquid tank and the culture tank. , An on-off valve with an adjustable flow passage area provided in the middle of this chemical supply pipe, an actuator that opens and closes this on-off valve by sending compressed air, and between this actuator and the compressed air source. And the provided throttle valve.

[0012]

[Action]

 When a desired amount of the chemical liquid is supplied from the chemical liquid tank to the culture tank by the chemical liquid supply device of the culture device of the present invention configured as described above, a predetermined amount of compressed air is sent to the actuator through the throttle valve. As the compressed air is fed, the actuator opens the on-off valve by an amount corresponding to the amount of the compressed air fed. As a result, a predetermined amount of drug solution is sent from the drug solution tank to the culture tank.

The throttle valve provided between the actuator and the compressed air source only allows air to pass therethrough, and is not particularly required to have corrosion resistance, and it is not necessary to sterilize the inside. Therefore, the provision of the throttle valve does not increase the manufacturing cost of the chemical liquid supply device or increase the time required for the sterilization process.

[0014]

【Example】

 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. An on-off valve 6 whose flow passage area is adjustable is provided in the middle of a drug solution supply pipe 3 that connects the bottom of a drug solution tank 2 provided at a position higher than the culture tank 1 and the culture tank 1. The opening / closing is performed by an actuator 7 driven by sending in compressed air.

The other ends of the supply / discharge pipes 8 a, 8 b, one end of which is connected to the supply / discharge port of the actuator 7, are connected to two of the four ports provided in the four-way valve 9. .. One of the remaining ports of the four-way valve 9 is open to the atmosphere, and the remaining one port is connected to the discharge port of the compressor 11 which is the compressed air source through the air supply pipe 10. There is. A throttle valve 12 is provided in the middle of the air supply pipe 10 to throttle the flow rate of the compressed air sent to the actuator 7 through the four-way valve 9.

As the actuator 7, for example, one having a structure as shown in FIG. 2 can be used. In this actuator 7, a pair of pistons 14, 14 are fitted in a cylinder 13 whose both ends are closed so as to be displaceable in the axial direction (left and right direction in FIG. 2) and airtight. Racks 15 and 15 are fixed to surfaces of the pistons 14 and 14 which face each other, and a single pinion 16 is meshed with the racks 15 and 15. Then, the opening / closing valve 6 is opened and closed by the rotating shaft 17 to which the pinion 16 is fixed.

Of the supply / discharge ports 18a, 18b provided on the side surface of the cylinder 13 and connected to one ends of the supply / discharge pipes 8a, 8b, one (the left side in FIG. 2) supply / discharge port 18a is An intermediate portion of the cylinder 13 communicates with a portion between the pair of pistons 14, 14, and the other (right side in FIG. 2) supply / discharge port 18b communicates with both ends of the cylinder 13.

Therefore, based on the switching of the four-way valve 9, if the one supply / discharge port 18a is communicated with the discharge port of the compressor 11 and the other supply / discharge port 18b is opened to the atmosphere, The pistons 14, 14 move away from each other, and the rotary shaft 17 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 to open (or close) the on-off valve 6. On the contrary, if the one supply / discharge port 18a is opened to the atmosphere and the other supply / discharge port 18b is communicated with the discharge port of the compressor 11, the pair of pistons 14, 14 come close to each other and the rotary shaft is rotated. 2 rotates clockwise in FIG. 2 to close (or open) the on-off valve 6.

The flow passage area when the on-off valve 6 is opened is almost proportional to the rotation angle of the rotary shaft 17, and the rotation angle of the rotary shaft 17 is the amount of compressed air sent into the cylinder 13. The feed amount is substantially proportional to the feed amount, and the feed amount is substantially proportional to the communication time between the compressor 11 and the cylinder 13 by the four-way valve 9. Therefore, if the switching time of the four-way valve 9 is set appropriately, the amount of the chemical solution flowing through the on-off valve 6 can be adjusted.

Further, as the throttle valve 12, for example, one having a structure as shown in FIG. 3 can be adopted. This throttle valve 12 is widely known in the past, and the tip of a needle 22 is inserted into a throttle passage 21 provided between an inlet 19 and an outlet 20. The tip of the needle 22 is tapered, and the knob 23 is rotated to displace the needle 22 in the axial direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3), whereby the outer peripheral surface of the needle 22 and the throttle channel are By adjusting the clearance between the inner peripheral surface of 21 and the inner peripheral surface, the throttle channel area is adjusted.

When a desired amount of the chemical liquid is supplied from the chemical liquid tank 2 to the culture tank 1 by the chemical liquid supply device of the culture device of the present invention configured as described above, the throttle valve can be switched by switching the four-way valve 9. A predetermined amount of compressed air is sent to the actuator 7 through 12. The rotary shaft 17 of the actuator 7 rotates as the compressed air is fed, and the rotary shaft 17 opens the on-off valve 6 by an amount corresponding to the amount of the compressed air fed. As a result, a predetermined amount of drug solution is fed from the drug solution tank 2 to the culture tank 1.

The opening degree of the on-off valve 6 by the actuator 7 can be finely adjusted by changing the switching time of the four-way valve 9 and the flow passage area of the throttle valve 12, so that the amount of the drug solution sent to the culture tank 1 (a predetermined amount) ) Is small, it is possible to feed a predetermined amount sufficiently. Further, the four-way valve 9 and the throttle valve 12 provided between the actuator 7 and the compressor 11 only need to be air permeable, and are not particularly required to have corrosion resistance, and it is not necessary to sterilize the inside. Therefore, by providing the four-way valve 9 and the throttle valve 12, the manufacturing cost of the chemical liquid supply device does not increase and the time required for the sterilization process does not increase.

[0023]

[Effect of the device]

 Since the chemical supply device of the culture device of the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, it can be manufactured at low cost and the sterilization time can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of an actuator.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a throttle valve.

FIG. 4 is a piping diagram showing a conventional structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 culture tank 2 chemical liquid tank 3 chemical liquid supply pipe 4 on-off valve 5 throttle valve 6 on-off valve 7 actuators 8a, 8b supply / discharge pipe 9 four-way valve 10 air supply pipe 11 compressor 12 throttle valve 13 cylinder 14 piston 15 rack 16 pinion 17 rotating shaft 18a , 18b Supply / discharge port 19 Inlet 20 Outlet 21 Throttling flow path 22 Needle 23 Picking

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A chemical solution tank provided at a position higher than the culture tank, a chemical solution supply pipe connecting the bottom of the chemical solution tank and the culture tank, and a flow passage area provided in the middle of the chemical solution supply pipe. Of the invention, a chemical solution supply device for a culture device, comprising: an adjustable on-off valve, an actuator for opening and closing the on-off valve by feeding compressed air, and a throttle valve provided between the actuator and the compressed air source.