JPH10221322A - Channel switching valve unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a channel switching valve unit capable of improving responsivity by reducing the number of connecting joints and piping and shortening channels and capable of reducing the size of the device as well in a liquid chromatograph, etc. SOLUTION: A branching block 1 is provided with a plurality of connecting openings 1a, etc., for letting a solution from a reservoir, etc., flow in and out. A solenoid valve 2, etc., for switching between channels is installed to the branching block 1. The branching block 1 is placed to a tray 6 provided with a guide 6a which slides a rail 8a arranged on both sides of a housing case 8 provided under a pump unit. The branching block 1 is housed in the housing case 8 together with the tray 6 so that it can be loaded and unloaded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow path switching valve unit used for switching an eluent to flow through a column such as a liquid chromatograph.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In liquid chromatography, a flow path switching valve unit (gradient unit) for gradually changing the polarity and solution concentration of an eluent flowing through a column is used. This is to eliminate the loss of analysis time and complete the analysis in a short time, because components that elute very quickly and components that require a long time to elute may be mixed depending on the object to be analyzed. Therefore, several reservoirs
The analysis is performed by preparing a bath and sequentially switching to a required eluent using a switching valve unit using a plurality of electromagnetic valves and the like.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional flow path switching valve unit for switching flow paths. In this flow path switching valve unit, a five-way branch block 21 in a case 20 and pipes 26, 27, 28, through which eluent flows from reservoirs 10, 11,. 29, and the two-way solenoid valves 22, 23, 24, 25
Are arranged and the required eluent is sent to the liquid sending unit. Note that the flow path switching valve unit is also used for automatic cleaning of a column or a pipeline.

[0004]

The conventional channel switching valve unit used in liquid chromatography requires a large number of pipes and connection joints because it has a plurality of solenoid valves inside the apparatus. growing. Generally, an increase in the distance or volume from the reservoir to the column affects the analysis time and lowers the sensitivity. Therefore,
In a liquid chromatograph, the smaller the distance or volume from the reservoir to the pump or column, the better. However, the conventional flow path switching valve unit has a problem that the size of the apparatus is inevitably increased because a pipe is directly connected to each solenoid valve.

[0005] The present invention has been made to address the above-described problems, and has been developed for use in a liquid chromatograph or the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flow path switching valve unit capable of reducing the number of connection joints and pipes, shortening the flow path, improving responsiveness, and reducing the size of the apparatus.

[0006]

That is, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a flow path switching valve unit comprising:
A plurality of connection ports (1 for inflow and outflow of the solution)
a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e) and a branch block (1) to which solenoid valves (2, 3, 4, 5) are attached.
Is housed so as to be able to be taken in and out of a housing case (8) provided at the lower part of the pump unit.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a flow path switching valve unit of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which the flow path switching valve unit is housed in a storage case, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which piping is provided from a plurality of reservoirs to the branch block of the flow path switching valve switching unit (however, the reservoir portion is a front view for easy understanding). ).

In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a branch block, which is generally a synthetic resin having corrosion resistance (chemical resistance);
For example, it is made of polytetrafluoroethylene resin (PTFE). This branch block 1 has five connection ports 1
Although a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e are provided (the number of these connection ports is not limited to five and may be increased or decreased), these serve as an inlet or an outlet for the eluent. That is, connection port 1
a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e, the connection ports 1a, 1b,
1c and 1d are connection ports for flowing an eluent from a reservoir as described later, and 1e is a connection port for sending out to a liquid sending unit (not shown). When connecting pipes to these connection ports (1a, 1b,...), A plug (not shown) may be inserted or the plug may be screwed.

Further, four solenoid valves 2, 3, 4, and 5 are attached to the branch block 1, and each connection port 1a,
An operation is performed to open or close any one of the flow paths connected to 1b, 1c, and 1d. Each of the reservoirs 10, 11, 12,
The eluent sent from any one of the electromagnetic valves 2 and 13
Opening and closing operations of 3, 4, and 5 are sent to a liquid sending unit (not shown) discharged from the outlet 1e.

The branch block 1 is installed on a tray 6, and guides 6a and 6b are provided on both sides of the tray 6. The end of the tray 6 is fixed to a handle 7. In addition, the tray 6 can be moved into and out of the space 10 of the storage case 8 by sliding the guides 6a and 6b on rails 8a and 8b provided on both sides of the space 9 of the storage case 8. It is. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the branch block 1 is constructed so that the entire tray 6 can be pulled out from the storage case 8 by the handle 7 and stored. The storage case 8 is provided below the pump unit (not shown).

As described above, this branch block 1
Since it can be stored in the storage case 8, the branch block 1 is pulled out together with the tray 6 at the time of piping connection, and necessary from the reservoirs (10, 1112, 13) as shown in FIG. Pipes (14, 15, 16, 17, 18) can be connected to the respective connection ports (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e) and stored in the storage case 8.

If the branch block 1 can be stored in the storage case 8 provided below the pump unit as described above, a pump (not shown) can be directly mounted on the storage case 8. Can be installed. If piping is performed from the branch block 1 to this pump, the length of the piping pipe can be extremely reduced. Further, since the piping between the branch block 1 and the solenoid valve 2 can be reduced,
From these surfaces, the length and capacity of the flow path pipe of the eluent can be reduced. Since the length or space capacity of the eluent from the reservoir (10 or the like) to the column can be reduced, there is no time lag at the time of analysis and the sensitivity is improved accordingly.

Next, since the solenoid valves 2, 3, 4, and 5 are directly mounted on the branch block 1, the solenoid valves (2,
(3,...) Can be combined into one to reduce the capacity. Therefore,
The whole device can be made compact. Also, when replacing the piping or replacing the branch block itself, the replacement work and the connection work can be performed simply by withdrawing from the storage case 8, so that maintenance is facilitated.
In the above-described embodiment, the tray 6 on which the branch block 1 is placed has been described as an example in which the tray 6 can be pulled back and forth or can be stored. You may make it able to be pulled out and stored.

[0014]

As described above in detail, according to the flow path switching valve unit of the present invention, the length of the connection joint and the pipe length or the capacity of the eluent flow path can be reduced, so that the time delay at the time of analysis is reduced. And the responsiveness is improved. Further, in this flow path switching valve unit, the size of the device can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a flow path switching valve unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a housing housing the flow path switching valve unit according to the present invention;
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a housing housing the flow path switching valve unit of the present invention.
FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which piping is provided from a plurality of reservoirs to a branch block of the flow path switching valve switching unit of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional flow path switching valve switching unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Branch block 1a to 1e Connection port 2 to 5 Solenoid valve 6 Tray 6a, 6b Guide 7 Handle 8 Storage case 8a, 8b Rail 10 to 13 Reservoir

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A branch block provided with a plurality of connection ports for inflow and outflow of a solution and having a solenoid valve attached thereto is housed so as to be able to be taken in and out of a housing case provided at a lower portion of a pump unit. Characteristic channel switching valve unit.