JPH11239605A - Double door type sterilizer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly lock an unclean side door after finishing sterilization. SOLUTION: A double door type sterilizer has a sterilizing chamber 2 having an unclean side opening 4 and a clean side opening 5, an unclean side door 9 and a clean side door 10 lockable/unlockable to open/close the unclean side opening 4 and the clean side opening 5, and a door control means to lock both doors 9, 10 during sterilizing, to unlock the clean side door 10 after finishing sterilization and to unlock the unclen side door 9 on condition of practically or directly detecting that a sterilizing object of the sterilzing chamber 2 is taken out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a double-door sterilizer having a non-cleaning side door and a cleaning side door,
The present invention is also applied to a pass box having a sterilization function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this kind of sterilization apparatus, the actual fairness 7-
As shown in JP-A-33795, once the non-cleaning side door is opened even once after sterilization is completed, the clean-side door is locked so that the door is not unlocked unless sterilization is performed. Is prevented from entering the space on the clean side.

[0003]

In such a conventional sterilization apparatus, when the non-cleaning side door is opened before the sterilized object is taken out to the cleaning side space after the sterilization-side door is opened after the sterilization is completed, the sterilization is completed. The object to be sterilized is contaminated. For this reason, there is a problem that a re-sterilization operation is required, a substantially long sterilization time is required, and economical loss is caused.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a sterilization chamber having a non-cleaning side opening and a clean side opening; The non-cleaning side door and the cleaning side door which open and close the opening and the cleaning side opening respectively, and the both doors are locked during sterilization, and after the sterilization is completed, the cleaning side door is unlocked and the sterilization chamber is sterilized. Door control means for unlocking the non-cleaning side door on condition that the removal of the object is simulated or directly detected, and the non-cleaning side opening is provided. And a sterilization chamber having a clean side opening, a non-clean side door and a clean side door which are lockable and unlockable and open and close the non-clean side opening and the clean side opening, respectively, and lock both the doors during sterilization. After the sterilization, the clean side door is unlocked and the clean side door is Ku that it also comprises a door control means for unlocking the uncleaned side door on condition that it was opened once a second feature.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention is a double-door sterilizer used in hospitals and research laboratories. The sterilizer includes a sterilization chamber having a non-clean side opening and a clean side opening,
A non-cleaning side door and a cleaning side door which can be locked and unlocked to open and close the cleaning and non-cleaning side opening and the cleaning side opening, respectively, and lock both doors during sterilization; Door control means for unlocking the non-cleaning side door on condition that the door is unlocked and the fact that the object to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber has been removed is simulated or directly detected. ing. The sterilization chamber is provided with sterilization means. The means for sterilization is not particularly limited, such as a method using steam, a method using sterilizing gas such as ozone, and a method using ultraviolet rays.

The non-cleaning side opening and the cleaning side opening communicate with a non-cleaning side space (including a room) and a clean side space (including a room), respectively. Each of the non-cleaning side door and the cleaning side door has a lock unit. Unlocking and locking the door means unlocking and locking the door locking means, respectively. The non-cleaning side door and the clean side door can open and close the non-cleaning side opening and the clean side opening in an unlocked state. The locking means is not particularly limited as long as it restricts the opening of the door in the locked state, that is, if it prevents the worker from opening the door even when trying to open it. The non-cleaning-side door and the cleaning-side door itself are not particularly limited in any means, and a pivoting door that pivots around a support shaft, a non-flexible sliding door in which the door itself slides without bending deformation, a door Any door other than the bending slide type door which slides while bending and deforming itself may be used. The object to be sterilized is brought into the sterilization room from the non-cleaning space through the non-cleaning side opening, and after being sterilized there, is taken out to the cleaning side space through the cleaning side opening.

After the sterilization is completed, the door control means unlocks the clean side door, and performs the non-cleaning on the condition that the removal of the object to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber is detected in a simulated or direct manner. Unlock the side door. The pseudo-detection that the sterilized object has been removed from the sterilization chamber is detected, for example, by detecting that the clean side door has been opened at least once, and thereby the sterilized object is removed from the sterilization chamber. It is to judge that it has been taken out. This is based on the fact that the object to be sterilized is almost always taken out to the clean side space when the clean side door is opened after completion of the sterilization. To directly detect that the object to be sterilized has been removed from the sterilization chamber is provided with a weight sensor for detecting the weight of the sterilization chamber, for example.
This is to detect and determine from the weight of the sterilization chamber and the object to be sterilized, and the change in weight before and after taking out the object to be sterilized after completion of the sterilization. The door control means is constituted by a microcomputer or the like, and controls not only the control after the end of the sterilization but also the unlocking and locking of the door before the start of the sterilization and during the sterilization.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the double-door sterilizer according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a main part of a control procedure performed by the control circuit. It is a flowchart figure shown.

The double-door sterilizer 1 has a sterilization chamber 2 therein.
And a heating jacket 3 constituting a steam supply space on the peripheral wall portion. Steam for heat sterilization is supplied to the inside of the heating jacket 3 and the inside of the sterilization chamber 2 by steam generation means described later. The steam supply space of the peripheral wall may be a heating tube provided in contact with the peripheral wall of the sterilization chamber 2. The sterilization apparatus 1 supplies steam to the heating jacket 3 to heat the wall surface of the sterilization chamber 2-a sterilization step of supplying steam to the sterilization chamber 2 for sterilization-and exhausts the steam in the sterilization chamber 2. A sterilization operation including an evacuation step and a drying step of drying the object to be sterilized is sequentially performed. The step of the sterilization operation is not limited to this, and a deaeration step of deaeration in the sterilization chamber may be provided between the preheating step and the sterilization step. The evacuation step and the drying step are performed using a vacuum pump described later, but can be performed by other means. Here, the term “sterilization end” does not mean the end of the sterilization step but the end of all the steps of the sterilization operation.

The sterilization chamber 2 has a front opening 4 on the front side and a rear opening 5 on the rear side. The front opening 4 is in a space 6 on the non-clean side, which is called a general side, and the rear opening 5 is called a clean side. , Respectively, facing the space 7 on the clean side. Both spaces 6, 7 are defined by partitions 8, 8 and the sterilizer 1.
The front opening 4 has a first door (non-cleaning side door) 9 and the rear opening 5
Are provided with second doors (cleaning side doors) 10, respectively. At the top of the sterilization apparatus 1, a guide rail 11 is provided from the front opening 4 to the rear opening 5 as guide means for guiding the opening and closing of the first door 9 and the second door 10. The guide rail 11 has bent portions at both ends with a central horizontal portion interposed therebetween, and the bent portion is connected to the front opening 4 and the rear opening 5, and corresponds to both left and right end portions of the door. And a pair is provided.

The first door 9 and the second door 10 are both flexible, and the first door 9 is located at the front opening 4 at the closed position.
The second door 10 is provided so as to be movable along the guide rail 11 between the opening position and the top of the sterilizer 1. The second door 10 is connected to the rear opening 5 at the closed position and the top of the sterilizer 1 at the open position. Between the guide rails 11 so as to be movable. That is, the guide rail 11 is
Although the function as the movement assisting (guidance) means of the second door 10 and the function as the movement assisting means of the second door 10 are combined, the door moving assisting means may be provided for each door.

Next, a control circuit in the sterilization apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. The first door 9 and the second door 10 are respectively provided with a first electric lock and a second electric lock which are unlocked when energized and locked when not energized (restrict or lock the opening of the door when locked, (Restriction or lock release) 12 and 13 are provided. Also, each door 9,
Reference numeral 10 denotes first and second door opening / closing detecting means 1 comprising a limit switch for detecting whether each door is open or closed.
4 and 15 are provided.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a main controller composed of a microcomputer. The main controller 16 inputs signals from the following elements and the like. The elements are first and second door opening / closing detecting means 1
4, 15 and a power supply ON-O for directly or indirectly detecting a power-on (ON), power-off (OFF) state and change.
It includes an FF detecting means 20 and a sterilization control switch 21 provided in the operation unit 17 for controlling start and stop of sterilization. The first power switch 19 is controlled by the power control switch 18 of the operation unit 17 and is provided on an AC power supply line to turn ON / OFF power supply to various electric components (such as an electric lock) of the sterilizer 1. Control. Also, the main controller 16
Controls the following elements according to a predetermined processing procedure. The elements include first and second electric locks 12 and 13, steam generating means 21, and a steam control valve 23 for controlling supply and stop of steam from the steam generating means 22 into the sterilization chamber 2 and the heating jacket 3. , A vacuum pump 24 and the like. Reference numeral 25 denotes a second power switch for turning on and off the power from the beginning. 26 is
This is a low voltage supply circuit that supplies a low DC voltage to the main controller 16.

After completion of the sterilization, the main controller 16 unlocks the second door 10 on the clean side, and simulates that the object to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber 2 has been removed. Locking and unlocking of the door such as unlocking of the first door 9 on the non-clean side are performed. FIG. 4 shows an example of this control procedure. The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Now, it is assumed that the installation of the sterilizer 1 is completed, the doors 9 and 10 are closed, and the power is turned on for the first time. First, the second power switch 25 is turned on, and then the first power switch 19 is turned on. In processing step S1 (hereinafter, SN means processing step SN), power supply O
When the output of the N-OFF detection means 20 is input,
It is determined whether the power supply has changed from FF to ON, the power supply has changed from ON to OFF, the power supply is ON, or the power supply is OFF. In this case, S2
Then, the controller refers to a first memory (not shown) for storing whether or not the non-cleaning first door (hereinafter, referred to as a D door) 9 is opened after the sterilization operation immediately before the power is turned on. When the sterilization is completed, a sterilization completion flag is set in the first memory. Thereafter, when the D door 9 is opened, the sterilization completion flag is reset (canceled). If the sterilization end flag is reset, the process proceeds to S13, and if it is set, the process proceeds to S3. In this case, since it is in the reset state at the initial stage of shipment, the process shifts to S13, where only the door D is unlocked and the second door (hereinafter referred to as door C) 1 on the clean side is opened.
Lock 0. This prevents the C door 10 from being opened, thereby preventing the clean side space 10 from being contaminated.

Next, in S4, is the D door 9 opened?
It is determined whether the C door 10 is open or neither (the both doors are closed). Here, the latest information of which door was opened together with the judgment is stored in a second memory (not shown).
To memorize. The second memory stores whether the door that has been opened most recently is the door C or the door D instead of the door that is currently open.

Now, in order to carry the object to be sterilized into the sterilization chamber 2, D
If the door 9 is opened, the process proceeds to S5 to reset the sterilization end flag, and proceeds to S6 to lock the C door 10. In this case, the locking is already performed, so the locking is continued. S
At 7, it is determined whether the D door 9 has been closed. When the D door 9 is closed, the process proceeds to S8 with YES, and it is determined whether the sterilization has been started. Start sterilization
This is performed by a sterilization start operation of the sterilization control switch 21.
If the start of sterilization is not determined, the return to S1 is determined,
The process moves to S4. At S4, it is determined that both doors are closed, and the process proceeds to S30 to refer to the contents of the second memory,
It is determined which door has been opened most recently. In this case,
The processing of S6-S7-S8 is performed by the determination of the opening of the D door 9.

When the start of sterilization is determined in S8, the D door 9 is first locked in S9, and the process proceeds to S10 to determine whether or not the sterilization is completed. The sterilization operation is usually performed by timer control by the main controller 16, and when the end of the sterilization operation is determined, S1 is performed.
Move to 1. In S11, the sterilization end flag is set, and the flow shifts to S12 to unlock the C door. As a result, the C door 10 is unlocked, and the C door 10 is opened so that the object to be sterilized can be taken out. After the processing of S12, S1 directly to S4
And wait for the opening of the C door 10. When the C door 10 is opened, the processing shifts from S4 to S20, and the D door 9 is locked. Then, it is determined whether or not the C door 10 is closed in S21, and if YES is determined, the D door 9 is unlocked in S22. Here, the D door 9 can be opened only after the end of the sterilization. Thus, after the sterilization is completed, the C door 10 is never opened, that is, the opening of the D door 9 in a state where the sterilized object is not taken out is prevented. After the process in S22, the process proceeds from S1 to S4, and corresponds to the next sterilization operation.

Here, when the first power switch 19 is turned off, the judgment at S1 is made and the operation stays at S1 to be in a standby state for turning on the power again. When the power is turned off, both doors 9 and 10 are automatically locked. When the power is turned on again, is determined and the sterilization end flag in the first memory is checked in S2. If the sterilization operation is not completed after the D door 9 is opened, for example, if the power is turned off before S8, the sterilization end flag is in a reset state, the process proceeds from S2 to S13, and the D door is opened. Locking of the lock and the door C is performed, and the process shifts to S4.
7-S8... S12 are performed. If the sterilization operation has been completed after opening the D door 9, the sterilization end flag is in a set state, the process proceeds to S 3, where the C door 10 is unlocked and the D door 9 is locked, and the process proceeds to S 4. Transition. Then, when it is determined in S4 that the C door 10 is open, the process proceeds from S20 to S21, and confirms that the C door 10 is closed.
The door 9 is unlocked. Even if the power is turned off in this way, it is OFF
If the D door 9 is opened after the end of the sterilization, the state of whether or not the sterilization is performed after that is stored. Therefore, when the power is turned on again, the unlocking and locking of the C door 10 can be controlled in accordance with the sterilization state of the sterilization chamber 2, and safety can be ensured.

[0020]

According to the invention constructed as described above, the clean side door is never opened after the sterilization is completed, that is, the non-clean side door is opened without taking out the sterilized object to be sterilized. Will be blocked. Therefore, it is possible to prevent contamination of the sterilized object without taking it out to the clean side, and to prevent sterilization from being substantially re-sterilized after sterilization is completed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a main part of a control procedure by the control circuit of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Double-door sterilizer 2 Sterilization room 4 Non-clean side opening 5 Clean side opening 9 Non-clean side door 10 Clean side door 16 Main controller

Claims (2)

[Claims] A sterilization chamber having a non-clean side opening and a clean side opening; a non-clean side door and a clean side door that are lockable and unlockable and open and close the non-clean side opening and the clean side opening, respectively; During the sterilization, both doors are locked, and after the sterilization is completed, the clean side door is unlocked and the fact that the object to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber has been removed is simulated or directly detected. A door control means for unlocking the non-cleaning side door under conditions. 2. A sterilization chamber having a non-clean side opening and a clean side opening, a non-clean side door and a clean side door which are lockable and unlockable and open and close the non-clean side opening and the clean side opening, respectively. A door that locks the two doors during sterilization, unlocks the clean side door after completion of the sterilization, and unlocks the non-clean side door on condition that the clean side door is opened at least once. A double-door sterilizer comprising control means.