JPH06142162A - High-pressure steam type sterilizer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a high-pressure steam type sterilizer with superior operability and maintainability by providing a lock mechanism which joins a bottomed cylindrical sterilizing room container with the upper aperture part of a steam generator in such a way that it can be dismounted freely airtightly and performs the locking/unlocking of the sterilizing room container with respect to the steam generator. CONSTITUTION:The steam generator 10 loaded on the inside of a pedestal 9 is equipped with an electric heater 11 at an inner bottom part, and a shallow container 1 which houses water for steam and a joining member 2 equipped with a placing board 21 that can be ventilated to the upper aperture part of the container 1 are fixed airtightly. A tapered plane 46 is formed at the tip side of a circumferential groove 44 provided at the outer periphery of the aperture part of the sterilizing room container 4, and a step plane 45 is formed between the tapered plane 46 and the circumferential groove 44. Meanwhile, a notched groove 24 is provided at the position confronting with the circumferential groove 44 of the circumferential body 23 of the joining member 2, and an opening/closing piece 3 is inserted to the notched groove 24, and it is pressed so as to be engaged with the circumferential groove 44 by abutting. When the container is locked, the opening/closing piece 3 is brought into contact circumferentially with the circumferential groove 44, which blocks the upward movement of the sterilizing room container 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a high-pressure steam sterilizer having excellent operability for sterilizing medical or dental treatment instruments and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Medical or dental treatment instruments are washed and sterilized every time they are used on a patient and always kept in a hygienic state, and especially efforts are being made to prevent infection between patients.

For this reason, a widely used sterilizer is a high-pressure steam type sterilizer, which uses 115 to 150% of high-pressure saturated steam at a constant pressure in a pressure-resistant closed container.
The treatment tool is kept at a high temperature of 135 ° C. for heat sterilization.

In this sterilizer, conventionally, a cylindrical container whose one end is sealed has an airtight opening / closing lid at its inlet,
The horizontal type, which is fixed almost horizontally and in which the heating wire is arranged in the container cylinder, is widely used.The treatment instrument to be sterilized and a small amount of water are charged in the container, and the opening / closing lid closes the charging port. After that, autoclaving is performed.

Further, a sterilizing device of a system in which a tubular pressure-resistant container equipped with an electric heating means can be removably installed horizontally on a base is known (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-501362). An end cover that is screwed into one end of the tubular container to close the tubular container is provided. After the treatment instrument is loaded, the end cover is sealed and the container is electrically heated.

A vertical type disinfector equipped with a steam generator which is not a pressure type but is used under normal pressure is known, and a baby bottle or the like is placed on a water storage tray having a heating element on the bottom surface to make the body length longer. The lid of the above is fixed on the water storage tray by covering the baby bottle and heat-sterilized by the steam flow (JP-A-56-40).
154).

[0007]

The high-pressure steam type sterilizer in which the above-mentioned conventional sterilization container is horizontally arranged can accommodate the instrument to be sterilized in the container by making the container to be the body length. The lid that closes the container loading port has the advantage that it can be easily pressure-tightly sealed as a curved plate such as a mirror plate or a stopper such as an end cover, but on the other hand, the instruments to be sterilized are stacked in a cylindrical horizontal container. It is difficult to put in and take out the equipment such as loading and loading the equipment, it takes time to cool the equipment to the extent that it can be grasped after sterilization, and it is difficult to clean the inside of the container. There was a problem in operation or maintenance.

In the above vertical type disinfecting device, since the upper cover having a long cylinder shape can be freely detached, by removing the upper cover, the difficulties found in the above horizontal container apparatus can be solved. However, it is difficult to hermetically and simply seal such an upper lid and a steam generator so as to withstand the high pressure inside, and it has not been possible to use as a high-pressure steam sterilizer.

The present invention is intended to provide a high-pressure steam sterilizer which is separable from the steam generator, is pressure-tight and airtight and can be easily attached / detached, and is excellent in operability and maintainability. is there.

[0010]

A high-pressure steam sterilizer according to the present invention is a steam generator having a base and an electric heating element provided on an upper side of the base and having an inner bottom capable of receiving water. When,
A cylindrical sterilization chamber container having an opening attached to the opening of the steam generator via an airtight means, a steam exhaust pipe connected to the steam generator via a steam valve, and a steam generator. And a lock mechanism for locking and unlocking the sterilization chamber container with respect to.

The sterilizing apparatus of the present invention includes one in which a mounting table for directly or indirectly holding an instrument to be sterilized is fixed to the inside of the sterilization chamber container in the steam generator.

[0012]

In the sterilization chamber container, the opening is joined to the upper opening of the steam generator, and the inner space of the container serves as a sterilization chamber for accommodating instruments to be sterilized. Therefore, the electric heater heats the water received at the inner bottom, and the steam generated from the steam generator fills the sterilization chamber in the container and becomes high temperature and high pressure in equilibrium with the steam pressure, sterilizing the equipment to be sterilized. To do.

By removing the sterilization chamber container from the steam generator, it is possible to easily and quickly load and unload the instrument to be sterilized into the sterilization chamber position above the steam generator.

The lock mechanism firmly joins the sterilization chamber container to the steam generator against internal pressure, and the airtight means keeps the sterilization chamber container and the steam generator airtight.

The steam discharge line and the steam valve are opened at the beginning of sterilization, and after the steam is generated, residual air is discharged and then closed to perform high-pressure sterilization. At the end of sterilization, the power supply to the electric heating element is stopped, and then the steam valve is opened to dissipate the steam in the sterilization chamber and reduce the internal pressure to the external pressure. So immediately,
When the lock mechanism is released, the sterilization chamber container can be removed, and the sterilized instrument is exposed to the outside air and cooled. Therefore, the device to be sterilized can be taken out and used for an extremely short time after the vapor is released.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A high-pressure steam sterilizer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the sterilizer of the present invention. Inside the base 9, a steam generator 10 having an opening on the upper surface of the base 9 is mounted. The steam generator 10 includes an electric heating element 11 at an inner bottom portion thereof to store water for steam. A shallow-bottomed container 1 and a joining member 2 provided with a mounting table 21 that can be ventilated are hermetically fixed to the upper opening of the container.

In the present embodiment, the joining member 2 has an airtight flexible packing 22 in close contact with the inside thereof, and a peripheral body 23 projecting integrally from the upper portion thereof.

The sterilization chamber container 4 is a cylindrical container sealed by an upper bottom portion 41, and the inside of the container has a volume capable of accommodating most of the sterilization treatment instrument, and a lower opening 42 thereof.
Is inserted into the peripheral body 23 of the joining member 2, the opening end 47 thereof contacts the outer surface of the packing. In this state, the sterilization container 4 is prevented from being displaced in the horizontal direction by being restrained by the peripheral body 23, and the packing is blocked downward, thereby forming an airtight means.

The lock mechanism of the sterilization chamber container with respect to the steam generator will be described below. A peripheral groove 44 is provided on the outer periphery of the opening of the sterilization chamber container 4, and the tip side of the peripheral groove 44 extends to the end. A tapered surface 46 having a gradually decreasing diameter is formed, and a step surface 45 is formed between the tapered surface 46 and the circumferential groove 44.

On the other hand, in the peripheral body 23 of the joining member 2, a notch groove 24 communicating with the front and back is provided at a position corresponding to the peripheral groove 44.
Are provided horizontally at least at two locations facing each other with respect to the central axis, and a pair of opening / closing part pieces 3, 3 are inserted into the pair of notch grooves 24 to form a circumferential groove of the sterilization chamber container 4. It is urged to come into contact with and engage with 44.

The mechanism of the opening / closing part pieces 3 and 3 is shown in FIG. 2 which is an XY sectional view shown in FIG. 1. One end side of the pair of elongated opening / closing part pieces 31, 31 is attached to the fixed shaft 33, respectively. A single slide shaft 3 that is pivotally supported and is located rearward of the fixed shaft 33 of both opening / closing part pieces 31, 31 via links 34, 34.
5, a pin 36 is projectingly provided on the other end side of the slide shaft 35 pivotally supported by one end of the slide shaft 351, and is supported by a slide bearing 351. A lever 37 locked to the pin 36 is supported by a fixed shaft 372. ing. Therefore, the end 37 of the lever 37
When 1 is moved to the front side (in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2), the space between the pivots 321 and 321 of the pair of links 34 and 34 is narrowed, and the opening / closing members 31 and 31 rotate about the fixed shaft 33 in the opening direction. become.

Both opening / closing part pieces 31, 31 are formed by leaf springs 39, 3
9 is always urged in the opposite direction by the opening / closing part 31,
Arc portions 30, 30 having a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of the circumferential groove 44 are formed on the opposing edges of 31.

At the time of locking, when the arcuate portions 30, 30 of both the opening / closing part pieces 31, 31 are in circumferential contact with the circumferential groove 44 of the sterilization chamber container 4 and the internal pressure of the sterilization chamber 40 is higher than the external pressure, the opening / closing is performed. The pieces 31, 31 come into contact with the step portion 45 of the circumferential groove 44 to prevent the upward movement of the sterilization chamber container with respect to the circumferential body 23.

To release the lock, the lever 37 is actuated to open the opening / closing piece, and the engagement with the circumferential groove 44 can be released, so that the sterilization chamber container 4 can be separated from the steam generator 1. Prior to use, place the basket 5 containing the therapeutic instrument for sterilization on the mounting table 21, put a small amount of water in the steam generator, and place the steam sterilization chamber container 4 in the surrounding body 23 with the opening down. Then, the taper surface 46 pushes open the opening pieces 31, 31 and abuts the packing to make it airtight.
1, 31 are engaged with the circumferential groove 44 and locked.

When the electric heating element 11 is energized, the water in the steam generator evaporates, and when the temperature reaches 100 ° C., the steam valves 131, 121
When the steam valve 121 (usually an electromagnetic on-off valve) is opened by keeping the temperature at a specified temperature in the range of 115 to 135 ° C. for a specified time by controlling the temperature and then turning off the power, steam in the sterilization chamber is dissipated. Then, the pressure is reduced to the external pressure. At this time, if the tip portion 371 of the lever 37 is immediately pushed and pulled, the lock is released, the sterilization chamber container 4 can be removed, and the sterilized instrument can be taken out.

In this example, the lock is unlocked by manual operation of the lever 37, but the lever 371 or the above-mentioned slide shaft 35 is unlocked by a switch operation by an electromagnetic pushing means or a motor driven pushing and pulling means. A method can also be adopted as appropriate. In this case, by the sequence control, the steam valve 121 is made to be an electromagnetic valve, and at the end of the sterilization process, the electric power of the electric heating body 11 is stopped and the electromagnetic valve of the steam valve 121 is opened.
The unlocking can then be controlled in series.

The sterilization chamber container 4 includes a heat insulating protective cover 4
9, the protective cover 49 is grasped or held by one hand or both hands with bare hands, and the sterilization chamber container 4 is removed.
It is convenient because it can be installed.

FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal sectional view (A) and a lateral sectional view (B) of a sterilizer equipped with another type of lock mechanism. The tip of the lock pin 6 that pushes forward is engaged with the circumferential groove 44 provided on the outer circumference.
When the solenoid coil is energized and stopped by an operation switch (not shown) provided on the base 9, the lock pin 6 performs push-pull operation. Lock pin 6
The sterilization chamber container 4 seals and locks the steam generator 1 by pushing, and after the steam is dissipated after the sterilization process, the lock pin 6 is pulled back to unlock the sterilization chamber. The container 4 is ready for separation and removal from the steam generator 1.

In FIG. 3, a sensor 63 for detecting the mounting and sealing of the sterilization chamber container 4 is provided on the peripheral member 23 of the connecting member 2.
For example, an optical sensor is provided, the reflected light of a reflector (not shown) attached to the inner bottom surface of the circumferential groove 44 of the sterilization chamber container 4 is detected, and the output of the optical sensor is applied to the solenoid coil to energize the lock pin. It is also possible to perform the lock operation by 6.

In FIG. 3, the mounted sterilization chamber container 4 is shown.
The electric fan 53 is fixed to a side position of the device, and is used for cooling the instrument to be sterilized by blowing air from the fan 53 after removing the sterilization chamber container after sterilization.

[0031]

In the high-pressure steam sterilizer of the present invention, the inside of the cylindrical sterilization chamber container 4 is a sterilization chamber for accommodating instruments to be sterilized. It is extremely easy to attach and remove to and from. After the sterilization is completed, the lock of the sterilization chamber container to the steam generator can be immediately released by the lever operation or the switch operation and the sterilization chamber container can be easily removed. Can be shortened.
Furthermore, since the sterilization chamber container has a large opening,
Easy to wash.

As described above, the sterilizing apparatus of the present invention can be a small and simple apparatus having excellent workability and operability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a high-pressure steam sterilizer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the sterilizer shown in FIG. 1 including a lock mechanism in an XY cross section.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view (A) and a schematic cross-sectional view (B) of a high-pressure steam sterilizer using another lock mechanism.

[Explanation of sign]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steam generator 11 Electric heating body 12 Exhaust gas pipeline 21 Mounting table 2 Joining member 3 Locking piece 31 Opening / closing piece 4 Sterilization chamber container 44 Locking groove

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 5, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A base, a steam generator having an opening on the upper side of the base and an electric heating element on an inner bottom capable of receiving water, and an airtight means at the opening of the steam generator. A cylindrical sterilization chamber container having an opening to be mounted through, a steam exhaust pipe connected to the steam generator via a steam valve, and a lock for locking and unlocking the sterilization chamber container with respect to the steam generator. A high-pressure steam sterilizer consisting of a mechanism. 2. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein a mounting table for directly or indirectly holding an apparatus to be sterilized is fixed to the steam generator in an inner space of the sterilization chamber container. 3. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the sterilization chamber container is covered with a heat insulating container cover.