JPH10174707A - Steam sterilizer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steam sterilizer improving actual drying ability by preventing condensate from depositing on a sterilized object after drying. SOLUTION: The steam sterilizer is provided with a casing capable of generating high-pressure steam inside, a door which is supported to this casing through a hinge mechanism to be openable and closable for taking in and out the object to sterilize, and a door automatically opening and closing mechanism part 31 for holding the casing in a closed and locked state by this door and holding the door in the small opened state of opening slightly with respect to the casing. In this case the sterilizer is provided with a door opening/closing controller 32 which controls the part 31 to make the door into a small open state after finishing sterilizing operation by generating high-pressure steam within the casing and when a temperature in the casing detected by a temperature sensor 34 becomes lower than a fixed temperature stored in a storage part 33, controls the part 31 to make the door in a locked state again.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steam sterilizer for sterilizing a medical instrument or the like by inserting high-pressure steam therein while inserting the instrument into a container, and more particularly to a steam sterilizer having a drying function. About the vessel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a steam sterilizer, as shown in an external view of FIG. 3, an object to be sterilized is housed in a sealed container 1 and high-pressure steam is generated therein. Sterilization is performed. Therefore, a mounting table 3 for mounting the object to be sterilized is provided inside the container 1.
8 and a temperature sensor 34 for detecting the internal temperature are provided, and although not shown, a steam generating mechanism for generating high-pressure steam and a heating mechanism for heating the inside are provided. ing.

The container 1 is provided with a door 2 which can be opened and closed by a hinge mechanism. When the door 2 is opened, an object to be sterilized is put in and out of the opening 1a of the container 1. . The door 2 is provided with a packing P for sealing the container 1,
The door 2 is generally provided with a lock mechanism using a lock pin or the like so as not to be opened accidentally during a sterilization operation in a state where high-pressure steam is generated.

[0004] In this type of steam sterilizer, it is necessary to sterilize by high-pressure steam and then to dry the object to be sterilized and take it out of the container 1. A method of heating the inside of the container 1 at the same time as releasing the vapor in the container 1 to the atmosphere by slightly opening the container 1 is often used.

In a drying process after such a sterilization process, a mechanism for opening a door slightly is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 4-3226.
A high-pressure steam sterilizer disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54 is known. This mechanism applies a force to a lock pin in which a force in a predetermined direction is applied due to expansion of a packing inserted between a closed container and a door, etc. by the operation of two solenoids and a link mechanism. After applying the opposing force, the lock pin can be pulled out, the lock pin is pulled out by the motor and the cam mechanism, the door is slightly opened by the driving of another motor, and the door is again opened by the reverse operation. Is to be closed.

[0006] In such a high-pressure steam sterilizer having such a small door opening mechanism, the door is immediately closed when the drying process is completed with the door being small opened.

[0007]

By the way, as described above, in the drying process, a method of releasing the vapor in the container to the atmosphere by opening the door slightly and simultaneously heating the inside of the container is employed. Therefore, the temperature in the container at the end of drying is about 70 ° C.

Therefore, if the door is closed immediately in this state, there is a problem that when the temperature in the container is lowered, water vapor remaining in the container is condensed and the dried state of the material to be sterilized is deteriorated. Was. This problem can be solved by closing the door when the temperature in the container is sufficiently lowered after the drying is completed.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the dew condensation on an object to be sterilized after drying is completed, thereby effectively improving the drying ability. It is to provide a steam sterilizer.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steam sterilizer comprising: a container capable of generating high-pressure steam therein; and a container for opening and closing the container via a hinge mechanism. A door for allowing the object to be sterilized to be taken in and out, and a door for holding the container in a closed locked state by the door and holding the door in a small open state with the door opened slightly with respect to the container; In a steam sterilizer having an automatic opening and closing mechanism, after the sterilization operation is completed by the generation of high-pressure steam in the container, the door automatic opening and closing mechanism is controlled to set the door to a small open state, and the temperature in the container is set in advance. A door opening / closing control section that controls the automatic door opening / closing mechanism section to lock the door again when the temperature becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature.

In the steam sterilizer according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the constant temperature is set to a temperature at which dew condensation does not occur in the container even when the door is closed after drying is completed. Things.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the steam sterilizer according to the first aspect, after the sterilizing operation is completed by generating high-pressure steam in the container, the automatic door opening / closing mechanism is controlled. A door opening / closing control unit is provided for setting the door to a small open state and controlling the automatic door opening / closing mechanism unit to lock the door again when a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

The steam sterilizer according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the steam sterilizer according to the third aspect, wherein the temperature in the container is reduced to a temperature at which dew condensation does not occur even when the door is closed after drying is completed. It is set to the time required to go down.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing one embodiment of the steam sterilizer of the present invention.

The steam sterilizer of the present embodiment has the same basic configuration as the steam sterilizer illustrated in FIG. 3, and the output of the temperature sensor 34 provided inside the container 1 is the same as that of the entire device. And a door opening / closing control unit 32 for controlling a door automatic opening / closing mechanism 31 which will be described later. The door opening / closing control unit 32 has a storage unit 3 that stores data indicating a preset constant temperature.
The output of No. 3 is led. The door opening / closing controller 32 and the main controller 36 are bidirectionally connected. Storage unit 33
Is stored in the container 1 even when the door 2 is closed.
The temperature at which dew does not form inside.

The output of the operation input unit 37 is guided to the door opening / closing control unit 32 so that the user can arbitrarily set and change the storage contents (constant temperature) of the storage unit 33 within a certain fixed width. It has become. That is, for example, 40 ° C. is set as a reference as the constant temperature stored in the storage unit 33, and the user can change the setting in a constant range of about ± 10 ° C.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing another embodiment of the steam sterilizer of the present invention.

That is, an automatic door opening / closing mechanism 31 described later.
A timer unit 35 for measuring a certain time after the drying is connected to the door opening / closing control unit 32 in two directions, and the door opening / closing control unit 32 and the main control unit 36 are connected in two directions. Has become. The certain time measured by the timer unit 35 is a time required for the temperature in the container 1 to decrease to a temperature at which dew condensation does not occur even when the door 2 is closed.

The output of the operation input unit 37 is guided to the door opening / closing control unit 32, so that the user can arbitrarily change the setting of the time measured by the timer unit 35 within a certain fixed width. I have. In other words, the setting can be changed by the user in a fixed range of about ± 5 minutes with reference to, for example, 10 minutes as the measurement time in the timer section 35.

4A and 4B show an embodiment of the automatic door opening / closing mechanism 31. FIG. 4A is a horizontal sectional view of a main part of the door 2 in a closed state (locked state), and FIG. FIG. 3 shows a horizontal sectional view of a main part in a small open state.

The container 1 has an opening 1 formed on one surface thereof.
A door 2 that can be opened and closed is mounted on a.

The door 2 is swingably supported in a direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 4A by a hinge mechanism (not shown) provided on one side of the opening 1a of the container 1. In the unlocked state where the locking pin 3 to be inserted is not inserted, the container 1
Can be opened at an arbitrary angle with respect to. In the closed state, the container 1 can be closed by the packing P attached around the closed state.

A lock pin insertion fitting 4 having a through hole 4a for inserting the lock pin 3 is provided on the outer surface of the container 1, and the lock pin 3 is also provided on the door 2 side. An insertion hole 2a for insertion is formed. Then, as shown in FIG. 4A, in a state where the door 2 is closed, the lock pin 3 is inserted in communication with each of the holes 2a and 4a so that the opening operation of the door 2 is restricted. State.

The lock pin fitting 4 of the container 1 is connected to the container 1 by a geared motor 5 and a feed screw mechanism 6 including a screw shaft 61 and a gear 62 driven by the geared motor 5, as shown in FIG. ) It can be displaced in the direction shown by the middle arrow B. That is, the lock pin insertion fitting 4 has a screw shaft 6 having a male screw 61a formed on a part of the outer periphery.
1, the male screw 6 of the screw shaft 61
1a is screwed into a female screw 62a formed at the center of the gear 62. The gear 62 is rotatably supported by a support 63 attached to the container 1 and meshes with a small gear 64. The small gear 64 is fixed to the output shaft of the geared motor 5 fixed to the support 63 via a bracket. Note that reference numerals 65a and 65
b is a spacer for preventing the gear 62 from moving.

In the above configuration, by driving the geared motor 5, the gear 62 rotates through the small gear 64, and the female screw 62a formed at the center of the gear 62 rotates. When the female screw 62a rotates, the screw shaft 61 screwed into the female screw 62a moves in the axial direction according to the direction of the rotation,
That is, it is displaced in any direction shown by arrow B, and displaces the lock pin insertion fitting 4.

The drive of the geared motor 5 is controlled at a predetermined timing by a control signal from a door opening / closing controller 32 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

Next, a series of operations in the steam sterilizer having the above configuration will be described with respect to (1) the operation of the steam sterilizer of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and (2) the operation of the steam sterilizer of the embodiment shown in FIG. This will be described separately below.

(1) Operation of the steam sterilizer of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 That is, in a state where the object to be sterilized is accommodated in the container 1 and the door 2 is closed, as shown in FIG. The pin 3 is inserted into the through hole 4a of the lock pin insertion fitting 4 and the insertion hole 2 of the door 2.
After the door 2 is inserted into the container 2 and the door 2 is locked, high-pressure steam is generated in the container 1 for sterilization. When the sterilization process is completed, the door opening / closing control unit 32 outputs a control signal to the geared motor 5 and rotates the geared motor 5 in a predetermined direction while the door 2 remains locked, so that the lock pin insertion metal fitting 4 is moved. It is moved to the left in FIG. As a result, the lower side of the door 2 is pushed to the left via the lock pin 3, and the door 2 is centered on the hinge mechanism at the upper edge of the door 2.
Is rotated to a small open state as shown in FIG.

When the door 2 is slightly opened, the residual vapor in the container 1 escapes to the atmosphere, and the object to be sterilized in the container 1 is dried by heating the inside of the container 1 in this state.

In such a state of the drying process, the door opening / closing control unit 32 takes in the temperature inside the container 1 detected by the temperature sensor 34 and stores it in a constant temperature (for example, 40 ° C.) stored in the storage unit 33. ). And
When the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 34 becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined fixed temperature, the door opening / closing control unit 32 outputs a control signal to the geared motor 5 to rotate the geared motor 5 in the opposite direction to the above. The lock pin insertion metal fitting 4 is displaced rightward in FIG. 4A, and the door 2 is closed again through the lock pin 3 in the locked state.

As described above, in the drying process after the sterilization process, the door is closed after the temperature in the container has decreased to a temperature at which no dew condensation occurs, thereby reliably preventing the dew condensation on the object to be sterilized after the drying is completed. can do. That is, the drying ability is effectively improved.

(2) Operation of the steam sterilizer of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 That is, in a state where the object to be sterilized is accommodated in the container 1 and the door 2 is closed, as shown in FIG. The pin 3 is inserted into the through hole 4a of the lock pin insertion fitting 4 and the insertion hole 2 of the door 2.
After the door 2 is inserted into the container 2 and the door 2 is locked, high-pressure steam is generated in the container 1 for sterilization. When the sterilization process is completed, the door opening / closing control unit 32 outputs a control signal to the geared motor 5 and rotates the geared motor 5 in a predetermined direction while the door 2 remains locked, so that the lock pin insertion metal fitting 4 is moved. It is moved to the left in FIG. As a result, the lower side of the door 2 is pushed to the left via the lock pin 3, and the door 2 is centered on the hinge mechanism at the upper edge of the door 2.
Is rotated to a small open state as shown in FIG.

In the state of such a drying process, the door opening / closing control section 32 outputs a control signal to the geared motor 5 and simultaneously activates the timer section 35 to start measurement for a predetermined time. The timer unit 35 outputs an end signal to the door opening / closing control unit 32 when the measurement of the fixed time ends. The door opening / closing control unit 32 outputs a control signal to the geared motor 5 based on the end signal, rotates the geared motor 5 in the opposite direction to the above, and moves the lock pin insertion fitting 4 to the position shown in FIG.
The door 2 is displaced rightward, and the door 2 is closed again through the lock pin 3 in the locked state.

As described above, in the drying process after the sterilization process, by closing the door after the temperature in the container has been reduced to a temperature at which no dew condensation occurs, the dew condensation on the object to be sterilized after the drying is completely prevented. can do. That is, the drying ability is effectively improved.

5A and 5B show another embodiment of the automatic door opening / closing mechanism 31. FIG. 5A is a horizontal sectional view of a main part of the door 2 in a closed state (locked state), and FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of a main part in a small open state. FIG. 6 shows FIG.
FIG. 7A is a sectional view taken along the line aa of FIG.
(A) has shown the principal part sectional drawing along the bb line, respectively.

In this example, the door 2 is a hinge mechanism (not shown) arranged vertically along the side of the opening 1a of the container 1 (the depth side perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 5). Is supported so as to be swingable in the direction indicated by arrow C.

The container 1 is provided with a lock pin insertion fitting 4 having a through hole 4a for inserting the lock pin 3 as in the example shown in FIG. Similarly, a lock pin insertion fitting 2b having a through hole 2a for inserting the lock pin 3 is provided so as to protrude from the side surface of the door 2. As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the door 2 is closed by inserting the lock pin 3 into communication with both the lock pin insertion metal fittings 4 and 2b on the container side and the door side. 2 can be in the locked state. Reference numeral 3a in the figure is a metal fitting for moving the lock pin 3 up and down to be in a locked state or an unlocked state, and is operated manually.

The lock pin insertion fitting 4 on the container 1 side is connected to the container 1 by an electric cylinder 11 and a link mechanism 12 including an L-shaped link 19 driven by the electric cylinder 11 as shown in FIG. It can be displaced in the direction indicated by the middle arrow D. That is, the lock pin insertion fitting 4 on the container side is fixed to one end of the rod 14 slidably supported on the bush 13 fixed to the container 1. A pin 16 extending in the horizontal direction is fixed to the other end of the rod 14 via a stopper 15. A pin 17 extending in the horizontal direction is also provided on the side surface of the bush 13.
Is fixed.

An electric cylinder 11 is provided below the bush 13 so that a slider 11a as an output shaft can be moved up and down.
Is disposed, and one end of an L-shaped link 19 is rotatably attached to the tip end of the slider 11a via a horizontal connecting pin 18. The other end of the L-shaped link 19 is
The L-shaped link 19 is rotatably supported by the pin 17.
The central bent portion is rotatably supported by a pin 21 at one end of the linear link 20. The other end of the linear link 20 is rotatably supported by the pin 16.

In the above configuration, when the slider 11a is displaced downward by driving the electric cylinder 11 from the state shown in FIG. 5A, as shown in FIG. One end of the L-shaped link 19 is pushed down vertically, and the L-shaped link 19 rotates around the pin 17 at the other end. The rotation of the L-shaped link 19 pulls the linear link 20 via the pin 21. As a result, the rod 14 is displaced in the bush 13 in the axial direction, and the lock pin insertion fitting 4 is displaced leftward in the drawing.
5B, when the electric cylinder 11 is driven to displace the slider 11a upward, the lock pin insertion metal fitting 4 is displaced rightward in the drawing by the completely opposite operation. It returns to the state of 5 (A).

In the above link mechanism 12, the pins 16, 17 and 21 for supporting the links 19 and 20 are the same as those in FIG.
In the closed state of the door 2 shown in FIG. 2A, the door 2 is arranged so as to be aligned on a horizontal straight line along the axis of the rod 14.
The electric cylinder 11 is driven and controlled at a predetermined timing by a control signal from the door opening / closing control unit 32 as in the example shown in FIG.

The automatic door opening / closing mechanism 3 of this embodiment
In the operation of the steam sterilizer of the present invention using No. 1 except that the electric cylinder 11 is driven and controlled instead of the geared motor 5 by a control signal from the door opening / closing control unit 32, the above (1) and (2) Since the operation description is exactly the same as that described above, the operation description is omitted here.

[0044]

According to the steam sterilizer of the present invention, after the sterilization operation is completed by the generation of high-pressure steam in the container, the door is automatically opened and closed by controlling the automatic door opening and closing mechanism, and the temperature in the container is controlled in advance. With a door opening / closing controller that controls the door automatic opening / closing mechanism to lock the door again when the temperature falls below the set temperature (the temperature at which condensation does not occur in the container even when the door is closed) I have. In the steam sterilizer of the present invention, after the sterilization operation is completed by the generation of high-pressure steam in the container, the door is automatically opened and closed by controlling the automatic door opening / closing mechanism, and the door is opened for a predetermined period of time (drying completion). A door opening / closing control unit that controls the door automatic opening / closing mechanism to lock the door again when the time required for the temperature inside the container to drop to a temperature at which dew condensation does not occur even when the door is closed later is provided. It has a configuration. As a result, dew condensation on the object to be sterilized after the drying is completed can be reliably prevented, so that the drying ability can be effectively improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of a steam sterilizer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram showing another embodiment of the steam sterilizer of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing an example of a steam sterilizer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an automatic door opening / closing mechanism according to the present invention, wherein (A) shows a closed state (locked state) of the door.
(B) is a main part horizontal plane view of the door in a small open state.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the automatic door opening / closing mechanism according to the present invention, wherein (A) shows a closed state (locked state) of the door.
(B) is a main part horizontal plane view of the door in a small open state.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line aa of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part along line bb in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container 1a Opening part 2 Door 31 Automatic door opening / closing mechanism part 32 Door opening / closing control part 33 Storage part 34 Temperature sensor 35 Timer part 36 Main control part 37 Operation input part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A container capable of generating high-pressure steam therein, a door for opening / closing an object to be sterilized which can be opened / closed via a hinge mechanism with respect to the container, and the container is closed by the door. A steam sterilizer having an automatic door opening / closing mechanism for holding the door in a small open state with the door slightly opened with respect to the container while maintaining the lock state, and terminating the sterilization operation by generating high-pressure steam in the container. After doing
The automatic door opening / closing mechanism is controlled to bring the door into a small open state, and when the temperature in the container becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, the automatic door opening / closing mechanism is controlled to lock the door again. A steam sterilizer comprising a door opening / closing controller. 2. The steam sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the constant temperature is a temperature at which condensation does not occur in the container even when the door is closed after the drying is completed. 3. The door opening / closing control section controls the automatic door opening / closing mechanism section to bring the door into a small open state after terminating the sterilization operation due to the generation of high-pressure steam in the container. 2. The steam sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein when the time has elapsed, the automatic door opening / closing mechanism is controlled to lock the door again. 4. The steam sterilizer according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time is a time required for the temperature in the container to decrease to a temperature at which dew condensation does not occur even when the door is closed after the drying is completed.