WO2011007341A1

WO2011007341A1 - Laminar flow cabinet

Info

Publication number: WO2011007341A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/053280
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matteo Longo
Original assignee: Matteo Longo
Priority date: 2009-07-17
Filing date: 2010-07-19
Publication date: 2011-01-20
Also published as: ITTO20090537A1

Abstract

The cabinet (1) comprises a diffuser (12) arranged to deliver a liquid decontaminant product in micronized form inside a space (2) of the cabinet in which the samples (3) to be treated are contained.

Description

Laminar flow cabinet

The present invention refers to a laminar flow cabinet, and more specifically to a biohazard laminar flow cabinet.

Laminar flow cabinets are today the most common type of cabinets in biological laboratories. Their special feature is the forced control of the air flow, which passing through suitable perforated grids is divided into separate filaments that are parallel to one another. This solution ensures a considerable cleanliness of the fluid filaments with an almost total absence of internal turbulence and therefore less risks of dispersion of the infectious agents, i.e. less risks of contamination. Differently from conventional and simpler chemical cabinets, laminar flow cabinets simultaneously carry out many functions: protection of the samples from contaminating one another and/or from contamination from the outside, protection of the worker and protection of the work environment (laboratory). The European standard EN 12469 provides for a classification of laminar flow cabinets into three classes. Class II laminar flow cabinets (the currently most common class) ensure protection of the worker, of the surrounding environment and of the manipulated material (this last protection is not ensured by class I laminar flow cabinets). The class II is in turn divided into subclasses, according to the degree of air flow recirculation in the space inside the cabinet. In particular, laminar flow cabinets of class HA (a subclass of class II), also called biohazard laminar flow cabinets, allows an internal recirculation equal to 70% of the volume of sucked air (only 30% of the air volume is thus constantly renewed) and are capable of offering maximum protection of the manipulated samples.

To this day, the most common methods for cleaning (i.e. for disinfecting and decontaminating) a laminar flow cabinet provide for a fumigation step or a step in which particularly toxic disinfectant chemical products, if not even carcinogenic, are applied. Laminar flow cabinets are treated according to known protocols which are automatically carried out by the cabinets themselves and/or with manual intervention by workers in charge of the cleaning of the cabinets. During such operations, the operators must provide for replacing the filters inside the cabinets and therefore the cabinets must be decontaminated beforehand so as to avoid exposing the workers to risks. Since the products used for cleaning the cabinets are highly toxic, during the entire cleaning, the rooms in which the laminar flow cabinets are positioned are completely unusable.

It is the object of the present invention to propose a laminar flow cabinet, in particular a biohazard laminar flow cabinet, which is capable of self-disinfecting and self- decontaminating, even from pathogenic agents, without creating deposits on the treated surfaces, without making the surrounding environment toxic and without exposing operation and people using the room in which the cabinet itself is placed, to contamination risks. A further object of the present invention is to propose a laminar flow cabinet, in particular a biohazard laminar flow cabinet, which also makes it possible to treat the environment in which the cabinet itself is placed.

These and other objects are fully achieved according to the invention thanks to a laminar flow cabinet, in particular a biohazard laminar flow cabinet, having the characteristics defined in independent claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject-matter of the dependent claims, the content of which should be considered integral and integrating part of the present description.

In brief, the invention is based upon the idea of providing a laminar flow cabinet, in particular a biohazard laminar flow cabinet, comprising a diffuser of liquid decontaminant product provided at its outlet with an atomization device, the diffuser device being configured to micronize the liquid decontaminant product through Venturi effect and to deliver it both inside and outside the cabinet. Thanks to the fact that the laminar flow cabinet is provided with a diffuser of a decontaminant product, in particular a decontaminant product with bactericide, fungicide, virucide and sporicide properties, which by Venturi effect is dispensed in the form of dry mist both inside and outside the cabinet, deposits are not left on the surfaces and toxic residue are not dispersed in the surrounding environment. It is thus possible to avoid carrying out the procedures normally required after the disinfection step, such as for example the drying of the treated surfaces. Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention shall become clearer from the following detailed description, purely given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a laminar flow cabinet according to the prior art; and

Figure 2 is a partially sectioned side view of a wall of a laminar flow cabinet according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In Figure 1, a laminar flow cabinet (hereafter indicated, in brief, simply as cabinet) according to the prior art is generally indicated 1. The cabinet 1 has a space 2 that is open to the front side of the cabinet and is intended to receive samples 3 to be treated. The space 2 is preferably closed by a screen 4. The cabinet 1, in a. per se known way, comprises so called HEPA filters suitable for preventing the samples 3 from being contaminated with particles. The filters are arranged in an upper portion 6 of the cabinet 1.

Figure 2, in which parts and elements that are identical or correspond to those of Figure 1 have been given the same reference numerals, shows a cabinet 1 according to the invention, which has an analogous structure to that of the cabinet shown in Figure 1 (see the related description), but also comprises a diffuser 12 suitable for diffusing a liquid decontaminant product, which is effective against the bacteria and against the pathogenic agents. The diffuser 12 comprises a dispensing mouth 10, which can be inserted into a hole 8 provided in a side wall of the cabinet, and a body 13 connected to the dispensing mouth 10 through a flexible hose 14. A bottle 16 containing the liquid decontaminant product is coupled to the dispensing mouth 10. In the body 13 of the diffuser 12 an electric motor 17 is housed. The body 13 is also provided with an outlet fitting 18, through which the flexible hose 14 is connected to the body 13. The dispensing mouth 10 comprises a Venturi effect accelerator suitable for transforming, in a per se known way, the liquid decontaminant product coming from the bottle 16 into micronized form. The dispensing mouth 10 of the diffuser 12 is inserted from the outside into the hole 8, in such a way that the flow of micronized decontaminant product is directed towards the space 2. Alternatively, the dispensing mouth 10 can be arranged on top of the cabinet 1 or can be fixed to a side wall thereof, so that the micronized decontaminant product is diffused around the cabinet. The cabinet 1 also comprises a timer 20 connected to the diffuser 12 and arranged to count a predetermined time duration and, on reach of a final instant of such a time duration, to send to the diffuser 12 a trigger signal to start the motor 17. The starting of the motor 17 causes the activation of the accelerator arranged in the dispensing mouth 10 and the consequent dispensing of the decontaminant product contained in the bottle 16. The cabinet 1 also advantageously comprises a per se known registration unit 22 arranged to monitor the decontamination operation performed and to transmit the relevant data to a remote control station.

The cabinet can also be provided with a recirculation tube (not shown) through which the air expelled from the cabinet is reintroduced inside the space for the recirculation of the micronized decontaminant product. The recirculation tube can be a flexible hose or a rigid tube.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining unchanged, the embodiments and the constructive details can be widely varied with respect to those described and illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example.

Claims

1. Laminar flow cabinet (1), in particular a biohazard laminar flow cabinet, comprising a space (2) arranged to receive samples (3) to be treated,

characterized in that it comprises a diffuser (12) arranged to deliver a liquid decontaminant product, said diffuser (12) comprising a dispensing mouth (10) provided with a Venturi effect accelerator to deliver the liquid decontaminant product in micronized form.

2. Cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the diffuser (12) comprises a body (13) connected to the dispensing mouth (10) through a flexible hose (14), and a bottle (16) coupled to the dispensing mouth (10) and containing the liquid decontaminant product.

3. Cabinet according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a wall of the cabinet defining the space (2) has a hole (8) arranged to receive the dispensing mouth (10) to dispense the micronized decontaminant product towards the space (2).

4. Cabinet according to any one of the previous claims, further comprising a timer (20) connected to the diffuser (12) and arranged to send to the diffuser (12), on reach of a final instant of a predetermined time duration, a trigger signal such as to cause the start of the diffuser (12).

5. Cabinet according to any one of the previous claims, further comprising a registration unit (22) arranged to monitor the decontamination operation performed and to transmit the relative data to a remote control station.

6. Cabinet according to any one of the previous claims, further comprising a recirculation tube through which the air expelled from the cabinet (1) is reintroduced inside the space (2) for the recirculation of the micronized decontaminant product.