JPH1123030A - Air shower device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of the sterilizing work, and to surely remove the residual gas. SOLUTION: In an air shower device 21 which permits the passage of an article by communicating a shut-off room such as a laboratory with the outside and prevents the passage of germs, etc., the air shower device 21 is provided with a shower room 22 to temporarily accommodate a carried-in article, etc., a plurality of jet air flow outlets 23 which eject clean air against the carried-in article, etc., to separate the germs, etc., a circulating means 24 which stacks the air mixed with germs in the shower room 22 and passes it through a filter 35 to filter germs, etc., to make the clean air, and blows the clean air into the shower room 22 from the jet air flow outlets 23, and a ventilating means 26 which is provided on a circulation passage 25 of the circulating means 24, discharges a part of the circulating air outside to dilute the concentration of the residual gas. The ventilating means 26 constitutes one of the jet air flow outlets 23 outwardly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a laboratory, a laboratory,
The present invention relates to an air shower device that communicates a closed room such as a neonatal room and the outside with a person and an object, and at the same time, removes fine particles, bacteria, and the like and blocks the passage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an air shower device which connects a closed room such as a laboratory and the outside with a person and an object and prevents bacteria and the like from passing therethrough, there is an air shower device disclosed in JP-B-61-529.
An "air shower device with a clean air supply device" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 10-163456 is known. This air shower device with a clean air supply device will be described with reference to FIGS.

An air shower device with a clean air supply device mainly includes a main body case 11, a clean room 12, and a front room 13.
It is composed of The main body case 11 includes a shower room 15 into which an occupant enters, an inside air suction port 1 for sucking air in the shower room 15, and a main filter 2 for removing bacteria and the like through the air sucked from the inside air suction port 1.
A jet blower 3 for converting the clean air from the main filter 2 into a jet airflow, a pan cooler 4 for blowing air from the jet blower 3 into a shower room 15, and a pressure chamber 11 ′ including a blower 6. The clean room 12 or the front room 13 is opened from the pressure chamber 11 ′ to the clean room 12 or the front room 13, and the clean air outlet 9 for sending clean air is opened from the shower room 15 to the clean room 12 or the front room 13. And an outside air inlet 8 for sucking the air in the chamber 13.

With the above construction, the air in the shower room 15 is sucked from the inside air suction port 1, filtered by the main filter 2 to become clean air, and injected into the shower room 15 through the pan curl bar 4 by the jet blower 3. You. As a result, the fine particles and the like are separated from the occupants entering the shower room 15 and the separated fine particles and the like are filtered by the main filter 2.

[0005] A part of the clean air that has passed through the main filter 2 is supplied to the pressure chamber 11 ′ by the blower 6 and sent out from the clean air outlet 9 to the clean room 12 or the front chamber 13. Further, the air in the clean room 12 or the front room 13 is sucked into the shower room 15 through the outside air inlet 8, and the air in the clean room 12 or the front room 13 is simultaneously purified together with the shower room 15.

When the air shower device with a clean air supply device is installed in a neonatal room, a laboratory that handles bacteria, a workplace of a pharmaceutical company, or the like, the invasion of bacteria from the outside and the removal of bacteria to be handled inside are prohibited. In order to suppress outflow to the outside,
Sterilization is performed periodically. In this sterilization operation, the operation of the air shower device is stopped, the main body case 11 is filled with formalin gas or the like for a certain period of time, and then the inside is opened to discharge the filled gas to the outside.

[0007]

However, the conventional apparatus having the above configuration has the following problems.

[0008] During the sterilization operation, it is necessary to stop the operation of the air shower device, but it is necessary to minimize the operation stop time in order to improve the operation efficiency.
In this case, the filling time of formalin gas or the like cannot be shortened, so that the time for discharging the filling gas to the outside needs to be shortened. However, in this case, it is difficult to completely remove formalin gas and the like from the inside of the main body case 11 in a short time, and there is a problem that a slight amount of gas remains inside the air shower device when the operation of the air shower device is restarted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an air shower device that enables sterilization work with a minimum downtime and efficiently and reliably removes residual gas. The purpose is to do.

[0010]

An air shower device according to a first aspect of the present invention communicates a closed room with the outside to allow the passage of an object or the like and the air for preventing the passage of fine particles or bacteria. In the shower device, a shower room for temporarily storing objects to be carried in or out, and a plurality of jet air outlets for injecting clean air into the objects or the like housed in the shower room to separate bacteria or the like from the objects or the like. Circulating means for sucking air in the shower room mixed with bacteria and the like, filtering the bacteria and the like through a filter to obtain clean air, and blowing out the jet airflow outlet into the shower room, and a circulating passage of the circulating means. And a ventilating means for releasing a part of the circulating air to the outside to dilute the concentration of the residual gas after being used for sterilization.

According to the above configuration, when performing a sterilization operation,
First, the operation of the air shower device is stopped. Next, a sterilizing gas such as formalin gas is filled in the apparatus for a predetermined time to sterilize the apparatus. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the shower room is opened and ventilated to remove the sterilizing gas. When the gas concentration reaches a level that does not cause a problem, the operation of the air shower device is restarted, and the ventilation means is operated continuously or intermittently. Thereby, the air circulating in the circulation passage is gradually replaced with the outside air, and the concentration of the residual gas in the circulating air is gradually diluted.

An air shower device according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the ventilating means is constituted by the jet airflow outlet provided with at least one of the plurality facing the outside.

[0013] With the above structure, the clean air is blown out from the jet airflow outlet into the shower room, and a part of the clean air is also blown out from the jet airflow outlet directed to the outside. As a result, the circulating air is gradually replaced with the outside air, and the concentration of the residual gas in the circulating air is gradually diluted.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an air shower device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a main part of an air shower device according to the present embodiment.

The overall configuration of the air shower device 21 of this embodiment is substantially the same as the conventional air shower device with a clean air supply device shown in FIG. However, the conventional front chamber 13 described above is not provided in the air shower device 21 of the present embodiment.

The air shower device 21 mainly comprises a shower room 22, a jet air outlet 23, a circulating means 24,
And ventilation means 26.

The shower room 22 is a space for temporarily storing objects to be carried into or out of the research room, persons entering the room, and the like. As in the prior art, there is a door (not shown) and the inside is closed.

A plurality of jet air outlets 23 are formed by a pan curl bar, and a plurality of jet air outlets 23 are provided from the pressure chamber 36 of the circulation means 24 to the shower room 22. The number of the jet airflow outlets 23, the jet speed of the clean air, and the direction thereof are set as appropriate. That is, shower room 2
The number of jet air outlets 23 and the like are set so that clean air can be efficiently jetted to the objects and the like accommodated in the apparatus 2 to reliably remove fine particles and bacteria from the objects and the like.

The circulating means 24 is provided with a lower chamber 31 provided facing the lower part of the shower room 22, and provided in the lower chamber 31 so as to open to the shower room 22.
A blower 33 provided in the lower chamber 31 for sucking the air in the shower room 22 from the suction port 32 into the lower chamber 31 and blowing the air downstream, and an outlet of the blower 33 , A filter chamber 34 for storing air to be filtered, an HEPA filter 35 attached to an outlet of the filter chamber 34 and filtering fine particles, bacteria and the like to produce clean air, and a HEPA filter 35. A pressure chamber 36 is provided on the outflow side, and stores clean air blown out as a jet stream from the jet stream outlet 23.

The shower room 22, the lower room 31, the filter room 34, and the pressure room 36, through which the air sucked from the shower room 22 through the suction opening 32 is blown out from the jet airflow outlet 23 to the shower room 22. Constitute a circulation passage 25. Ventilation means 26 is provided in the circulation passage 25. The ventilation means 26 is for releasing a part of the air circulating in the circulation passage 25 to the outside to exchange the circulating air with the outside air and dilute the concentration of the residual gas after being used for sterilization. .

Specifically, the ventilation means 26 is provided with a suction port 41 provided facing the outside in the lower chamber 31, a punching plate 42 provided in the suction port 41, and provided inside the punching plate 42. A HEPA filter 43 for removing dust and the like in the inflow air;
, An outlet 44 provided on the outside, a punching plate 45 provided on the outlet 44, a bread roll 46 provided inside the punching plate 45, and a bread roll 46 provided inside the pan roll 46. HEPA filter 4 for removing contaminants from the effluent air
7 is comprised.

The punching plates 42 and 45 include:
A damper / shutter (not shown) is provided so that the amount of air passing therethrough can be adjusted.

The number of air outlets 44 and the amount of air flow are set in consideration of the amount of air circulating in the circulation passage 25, the necessary dilution capacity, and the like, irrespective of the air volume of the jet air flow outlet 23.

[Operation] The air shower device 21 configured as described above operates as follows.

In normal operation, objects to be carried in or carried out, persons entering the room, and the like are accommodated in the shower room 22. In the shower room 22, the clean air in the pressure chamber 36 is blown at high speed from the jet air outlets 23 to the occupants,
Fine particles, bacteria, and the like attached to the surface of the occupant are peeled off. The exfoliated bacteria and the like are sucked into the lower chamber 31 from the suction port 32 together with the air by the blower 33, and are filtered through the HEPA filter 35 through the filter chamber 34. The clean air after the bacteria and the like have been filtered out is supplied to the pressure chamber 36.
And blown out again from the jet airflow outlet 23 into the shower room 22. The occupant from whom the bacteria and the like have been removed moves indoors or outdoors.

In the normal operation as described above, since bacteria may be propagated in one corner of the shower room 22 or the like, sterilization work is periodically performed. This sterilization operation is performed by stopping the operation of the air shower device 21 and filling the shower room 22 with a sterilizing gas such as formalin gas for a certain period of time. Thereafter, in order to remove the sterilizing gas, the door of the shower room 22 is opened and ventilated. When the gas concentration reaches a level that does not cause a problem, the air shower device 2
Restart the operation of 1.

The air shower device 21 after this sterilization operation
Is operated as usual when there is an occupant or the like, and is operated continuously or intermittently for a certain period of time by a timer, a control device, or the like. Thereby, the air containing the residual gas is circulated through the circulation passage 25 by the circulation means 24, and is gradually replaced with the outside air by the ventilation means 26, thereby diluting the residual gas concentration. That is, in the pressure chamber 36, the clean air is blown out from the jet airflow outlet 23 to the shower room 22, and a part of the clean air is blown out from the outlet 44. When the air is discharged from the outlet 44 to the outside, the pressure of the air circulating in the circulation passage 25 is reduced by that amount. Thereby, the air containing the residual gas is mixed with the external air to dilute the residual gas, and is sent from the filter chamber 34 to the pressure chamber 36. Adjustment of the amount of air discharged from the outlet 44 and the amount of air sucked from the inlet 41 is performed by adjusting the opening of the damper and shutter. The ventilation process by the ventilation means 26 is continuously performed during the operation of the air shower device 21.

[Effect] As described above, the residual gas generated by the sterilization operation is diluted by gradually replacing the circulating air with the outside air by the ventilation means 26, so that the residual gas is efficiently and reliably removed. Will be able to

Further, since the residual gas from the sterilization operation is diluted and removed by the ventilation means 26, the operation of the air shower device 21 is restarted only by shortly performing ventilation after removing the sterilization gas in the sterilization operation. Will be able to As a result, the operation stop time of the air shower device 21 can be minimized, and the efficiency of the sterilization operation can be improved.

[Modifications] (1) In the above-described embodiment, the suction port 41 and the air outlet 44 are provided as the ventilation means 26 so that the circulating air and the outside air are continuously exchanged. A blower may be provided to operate independently of the operation of the air shower device 21. In this case, the blower is operated continuously or intermittently to gradually exchange the circulating air with the outside air.

[0031]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

Since the residual gas generated by the sterilizing operation is diluted by gradually replacing the circulating air with the outside air by the ventilation means, the residual gas can be efficiently and reliably removed.

Further, since the residual gas due to the sterilization operation is diluted and removed by the ventilation means, the operation of the air shower device can be restarted only by shortly performing ventilation after removing the sterilization gas in the sterilization operation. Will be able to As a result, the operation stop time of the air shower device can be minimized, and the efficiency of the sterilization operation can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a main part of an air shower device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a conventional air shower device with a clean air supply device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main body case of a conventional air shower device with a clean air supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

21: air shower device, 22: shower room, 23: jet airflow outlet, 24: circulation means, 25: circulation passage,
26: ventilation means, 31: lower chamber, 32: suction port, 33:
Blower, 34: filter chamber, 35, 43, 47: HEP
A filter, 36: pressure chamber, 41: suction port, 42, 4
5: punching plate, 44: blow outlet, 46: pan curl bar.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air shower device for communicating an object or the like by connecting a closed room with the outside and allowing the passage of fine particles, bacteria, etc., to temporarily house an object to be carried in or out. A shower room, a plurality of jet air outlets for injecting clean air into objects and the like contained in the shower room to separate bacteria and the like from the objects and the like, and a filter for sucking air in the shower room containing bacteria and the like. A circulating means for filtering out bacteria and the like to obtain clean air through the jet air outlet, and blowing the bleeding air into the shower room from the jet air outlet; and a circulating passage provided in the circulating means for discharging a part of the circulating air to the outside. An air shower device comprising: a ventilation means for diluting the concentration of residual gas after being used for sterilization. 2. The air shower device according to claim 1, wherein the ventilating means is constituted by the jet airflow outlet provided with at least one of a plurality of them facing the outside. Air shower device.