JP4819730B2 - Centrifuge container mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a centrifuge that separates a specimen such as blood using centrifugal force, and more particularly to a mounting structure for a container that forms a chamber for housing a rotor.

  A centrifuge is a device that centrifuges specimens (liquid samples) such as blood, urine, and biochemical samples by rotating the rotor at high speed (usually thousands to tens of thousands of rpm), so the rotor breaks down during operation. When the bucket is detached from the rotor, it is assumed that the container for storing the rotor is destroyed with great destruction energy, and the fragments and peripheral members are scattered outside the machine. For this reason, the centrifuge disclosed by patent documents 1-3 etc. is known as a prior art which ensured the safety at the time of rotor destruction, for example.

  In addition, according to the international safety standard “IEC61010-2-020” for ensuring the safety against centrifuge rotor breakage, the allowable scattering distance of debris due to rotor breakage is set within a range of 300 mm in all directions from the centrifuge. And the size of the fragments is obliged to be 2 mm or less.

  The centrifuge described in Patent Document 1 is such that the elasticity of the door packing extends along the peripheral edge of the upper surface opening of the housing in the hollow portion of the door packing that seals the gap between the upper surface of the housing and the door when the lid is closed. An elastic member made of spring steel or the like that suppresses deformation is inserted. According to such a configuration, when a large destruction energy due to wind pressure or the like generated at the time of destruction of the rotor tries to deform the door and the door packing, an elastic body in which the deformation (crushing deformation) of the door packing is incorporated inside Since it is suppressed by the member, there is no gap between the door and the door packing, and it is possible to prevent fragments from being scattered outside the machine.

  The centrifuge described in Patent Document 2 is rotatably provided with a cylindrical protective wall that surrounds the rotor chamber (container) so that fragments such as a rotor do not scatter outside the machine. According to such a configuration, the rotor chamber and the protective wall can be rotated by the couple (rotation force) generated by the collision of the fragments when the rotor is broken, and the couple can be prevented from being transmitted to the centrifuge body. It is said.

  The centrifuge described in Patent Document 3 has a protrusion on the inner surface of the door. According to such a configuration, when the rotor breaks down, the protrusions are separated from the door by the collision of the fragments and fall into the rotor chamber, thereby suppressing the movement of the internal fragments. It can be prevented.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a container mounting structure in a conventional centrifuge. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a bottomed box-shaped casing that is open at the top, 2 a container that is disposed in the casing 1 and forms a chamber, and 3 is an openable / closable cover that covers the top opening of the casing 1. The door 4 is an annular edge rubber. An upper surface plate 5 constituting a table is integrally provided at the upper end opening of the housing 2, and the flange portion 2 </ b> A of the container 2 is fixed to the lower surface of the upper surface plate 5 by a stud bolt 6 and a nut 7. Yes. Further, the edge rubber 4 is attached to the inner peripheral edge of the upper surface plate 5, and the door 3 receives and supports the back plate 8 provided on the lower surface side of the door 3 when the door 3 is closed by the edge rubber 4. And the upper surface plate 5 are sealed.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of another container mounting structure in a conventional centrifuge. The container mounting structure shown here is such that the outer diameter D of the container 2 is smaller than the hole diameter D ₁ of the upper surface plate 5 and the flange portion 2A is fixed to the upper surface of the upper surface plate 5 together with the edge rubber 4 by the set screw 10. The container 2 is easily removed from the housing 1.

JP 2007-14834 A JP 2001-104827 A JP-A-8-266934

However, each of the conventional centrifuges described above has advantages and disadvantages, and there is room for improvement.
That is, in the centrifugal separation described in Patent Document 1, the bowl portion of the bowl (container) is fixed to the lower surface side of the upper surface plate via the door packing, so that the bowl can be drawn upward from the housing. Therefore, there is a problem in that the housing has a two-part structure of an upper housing and a lower housing, and a bowl needs to be attached to the upper housing side.

  In particular, since the centrifugal separation work separates the specimen in a clean environment, it is necessary to remove dust and the like in the container. In addition, when blood or body fluid that may cause infection is scattered and attached, it is necessary to remove the container and perform cleaning, and it is necessary that the container can be easily removed.

  In addition to the same problems as the centrifuge described in the above cited reference 1, the centrifuge described in Patent Document 2 is provided with a protective wall outside the rotor chamber, so that the number of parts increases. In addition, there is a problem that the apparatus itself becomes large and heavy.

  The centrifuge described in Patent Document 3 has a problem that the weight of the door increases due to the protrusion.

  Since the conventional centrifuge shown in FIG. 4 has the flange 2A of the container 2 fixed to the lower surface of the top plate 5, the container is similar to the centrifuge described in the above cited references 1 and 2. There was a problem that 2 could not be taken out above the housing. Further, when the bucket 12 is detached from the rotor 11 due to the destruction of the rotor 11 (see FIG. 5), the bucket 12 pops out horizontally by the centrifugal force and collides with the container 2, and the impact breaks through the container 2 as shown by a two-dot chain line. Destroy. For this reason, if the fragments of the container 2 or the bucket 12 scatter in the container 2 and a part thereof enters the gap between the edge rubber 4 and the back plate 8 and breaks through the edge rubber 4, there is a risk of scattering outside the machine. . Further, if the opening diameter of the upper surface plate 5 is made smaller than the outer diameter of the container 2, it is effective in confining debris at the time of breaking the rotor in the container 2 and preventing scattering to the outside of the machine 2. When the tube 13 containing the sample is taken out from the tube, if the tube 13 hits the edge rubber 4, the separation surface of the sample separated by the impact may become turbid. In this case, it is necessary to perform the centrifugation again. There was also.

In the conventional centrifuge shown in FIG. 5, the outer diameter D of the container 2 is set smaller than the hole diameter D ₁ of the opening of the upper surface plate 5, and the flange portion 2 A is fixed to the upper surface side of the upper surface plate 5. Therefore, when the edge rubber 4 is removed from the upper surface plate 5, there is an advantage that the container 2 can be easily pulled out above the housing 1. However, when the bucket 12 protrudes in the horizontal direction by the centrifugal force and collides with the container 2 due to the destruction of the rotor 11 during operation, if the container 2 is deformed to the outside and destroyed, the flange 2A is indicated by an arrow 14. The edge rubber 4 is broken in order to be deformed by receiving an obliquely downward force. For this reason, the seal between the edge rubber 4 and the back plate 8 is broken to form a gap, and there is a problem that the fragments are scattered outside the machine through the gap. Further, in the structure in which the flange portion 2A of the container 2 is held by the groove of the edge rubber 4, when the bucket 12 jumps out in the horizontal direction due to the centrifugal force and collides with the container 2, the container 2 is caused by the impact force. Rotate. For this reason, the frictional force between the edge rubber 4 and the flange portion 2A is increased, and when the edge rubber 4 is torn off by the rotational force, a gap is formed between the back plate 8 and debris scatters out of the machine. There was also a problem.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described conventional problems. The purpose of the present invention is to ensure that even if the rotor breaks down during operation, there is no risk of debris scattering outside the machine. Another object of the present invention is to provide a container mounting structure for a centrifuge that can further improve the performance and can be easily taken out of the casing.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a casing that is open at the top, a container with a hook that accommodates a rotor that is disposed in the casing and that centrifuges the specimen, and an upper opening of the casing. A top plate having an opening into which the container is inserted, a door attached to the housing so as to be openable and closable and covering an upper surface opening of the housing, and attached to the top plate when the door is closed In the centrifuge provided with an edge rubber that seals a gap between the door and the upper surface plate, the diameter of the opening of the upper surface plate is larger than the outer diameter of the flange portion of the container, and the rear surface of the upper surface plate The elastic member for supporting the container is attached via a mounting bracket, the container is housed in the housing so as to be positioned below the upper surface plate, and the edge rubber is provided with a pressing portion extending below the upper surface plate, With this pressing part and the elastic member for container support The flange portion of the serial container is obtained by sandwiching the.

  In the present invention, the rigidity of the mounting bracket is lower than the rigidity of the top plate.

  Further, according to the present invention, an annular groove is provided in the edge rubber, and a presser ring is fitted into the annular groove.

  In the present invention, when the rotor breaks during the operation of the centrifuge, the fragments and buckets rotate around the motor shaft and jump out in the horizontal direction by the centrifugal force and collide with the inner wall surface of the container. A container rotates by receiving the force of a rotation direction by inertia, such as a collision piece. At that time, the deformation of the container reaches the heel part of the container, but the heel part is elastically sandwiched between the edge rubber pressing part and the elastic member for supporting the container. The seal between the door and the top plate can be secured. Therefore, there is no possibility that debris will be scattered outside the housing through the gap between the door and the top plate, and the safety of the centrifuge can be improved. Further, since the outer diameter of the collar portion of the container is smaller than the opening diameter of the upper surface plate, the container can be easily taken out above the casing, and the container can be easily cleaned.

  In addition, since the rigidity of the mounting bracket is lower than the rigidity of the top plate, when the rotor breaks, if its fragments jump out in the horizontal direction and the container breaks, the collar receives elastic force for container support. Press down on the member. For this reason, since the mounting bracket is deformed downward, the upper surface plate and the edge rubber are hardly affected, and the edge rubber can be prevented from being damaged.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
1 is a side sectional view showing a closed state of a centrifuge adopting a container mounting structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a casing of the centrifuge, and FIG. 3 is a line AA in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view. In FIG. 1, the left half shows the state of the bucket during operation and the state in which the container is destroyed by the collision of the bucket, and the right half shows the stopped state of the bucket.

  1 to 3, a centrifuge generally indicated by reference numeral 20 includes a rectangular parallelepiped casing 21 that is open at the top, an openable / closable door 22 that covers the top of the casing 21, and the casing 21. A container 23 with a cage housed therein, a centrifuge rotor 24 housed in the container 23, a drive motor 25 for rotating the rotor 24 at a high speed during centrifugation, and an upper opening of the housing 21 A top plate 26, an edge rubber 27 attached to the top plate 26, a vibration damper 28 interposed between the housing 21 and the drive motor 25, and the like.

  The front plate 21A of the casing 21 has an inclined portion 30 inclined forward and downward in order to set a start button, centrifugation conditions (time, rotational speed, etc.), etc. A switch panel 31 having various buttons, an LED display device and the like (not shown) is provided.

  The container 23 includes a bottomed cylindrical main body 23A that is open at the top, and a circular flange 23B that is integrally extended to the upper end opening of the main body 23A. It is fixed to the upper part of 25A via a bellows 34.

  The rotor 24 is rotated by a support arm 37 having a cross shape in plan view attached to the rotation shaft 36 of the drive motor 25 and two support shafts (trunion pins) 39 on each arm portion 37a of the support arm 37. The swing rotor includes four buckets 12 that are freely and detachably attached and are loaded with tubes 13 that contain specimens. However, the centrifuge rotor 24 is not limited to a swing rotor and may be an angle rotor. The support shaft 39 protrudes from the outer periphery of the bucket 12 and is rotatably supported by being inserted from above into a groove 41 formed on the top surface of the distal end portion of the arm portion 37a.

The upper surface plate 26 covering the peripheral edge of the upper opening of the housing 21 has a circular opening 44 that allows the container 23 to be taken out upward, and is located above the flange 23B of the container 23. positioned. An inner diameter D ₂ (FIG. 3) of the opening 44 is set to be slightly larger than an outer diameter D3 of the flange 23B of the container 23 (D ₂ > D ₃ ). Here, in the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the casing 21 and the upper surface plate 26 are integrally formed by bending a sheet metal. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the upper surface plate 26 is manufactured separately. May be joined to the upper surface opening of the casing 21 by welding or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the edge rubber 27 includes an annular rubber body 27A having an annular groove 45 opened on the inner peripheral surface, an annular fin portion 27B extending in the center of the upper surface of the rubber body 27A, and a rubber. An annular pressing portion 27C that is integrally suspended on the inner peripheral edge of the lower surface of the main body 27A, and a bent portion 27D that is suspended on the upper inner peripheral edge of the rubber main body 27A and covers the opening of the annular groove 45, Along with the presser ring 46, the upper surface plate 25 is fixed to the upper surface by a plurality of set screws 47. The presser ring 46 is fitted into the annular groove 45 of the edge rubber 27, and a plurality of screw mounting holes through which the set screws 47 are inserted are formed. The fin portion 27 </ b> B seals the gap between the door 22 and the upper surface plate 26 by bringing the back plate 48 of the door 22 into close contact when the door 22 is closed. The pressing portion 27 </ b> C is inserted into the housing 21 along the inner peripheral edge of the upper surface plate 26 and presses the flange portion 23 </ b> B of the container 23.

  Further, for example, six container supporting elastic members 50 are respectively attached to the lower surface of the upper surface plate 26 via mounting brackets 51 at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the opening 44. As shown in FIG. 3, the container supporting elastic member 50 has a U-shaped cross section so that it has a groove 52 into which the mounting bracket 51 is inserted, and the container 23 is mounted in the housing 21. By doing so, the collar part 23B is received and supported from below, and when the edge rubber 27 is attached to the upper surface plate 26 and the pressing part 27C is pressed against the collar part 23B, the collar part 23B is clamped together with the pressing part 27C.

  Since the mounting bracket 51 is formed by bending a metal plate, a horizontal fixing portion 51A, a horizontal elastic member mounting portion 51B lower than the fixing portion 51A, a fixing portion 51A, and an elastic member mounting portion. And a vertical connecting portion 51C for connecting to 51B, the fixing portion 51A is fixed to the lower surface of the top plate 26 by welding or the like, and the elastic member mounting portion 51B is located below the flange portion 23B of the container 23. The container supporting elastic member 50 is attached. Such a mounting bracket 51 is formed to have lower rigidity than the upper surface plate 26. As a method of making the rigidity of the mounting bracket 51 lower than the rigidity of the upper surface plate 26, when the same material is used, the plate thickness may be reduced. Further, the width of the mounting bracket 51 may be narrowed. On the other hand, in the case of forming with a different material, a material softer than the upper surface plate 26 may be selected.

  According to the container mounting structure of the centrifuge 20 having such a structure, there is little influence on the edge rubber 27 when the rotor is broken, and it is possible to prevent debris from being scattered outside the casing. In other words, the flange 23B of the container 23 is bonded only by being sandwiched between the pressing portion 27C of the edge rubber 27 and the container supporting elastic member 50 disposed on the lower surface side of the upper surface plate 26 via the attachment member 51 having low rigidity. Since it is not fixed by using an agent, a set screw, etc., fragments such as the bucket 12 and the support arm 37 pop out in the horizontal direction by centrifugal force while rotating around the rotation shaft 36 of the drive motor 25 when the rotor 24 is broken. And collide with the inner wall surface of the container 23. Then, the container 23 is rotated by a couple (rotational force) due to a collision of fragments and the like. At this time, since slip occurs between the flange 23B, the edge rubber 27, and the container supporting elastic member 50, only the container 23 rotates, and the rotation is not transmitted to the edge rubber 27. Further, when the main body 23A of the container 23 is deformed and broken due to the collision of the fragments, the flange portion 23B is deformed by receiving a downward force and pushes down the container supporting elastic member 50. For this reason, only the mounting bracket 51 is deformed downward as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, and the upper surface plate 26 and the edge rubber 27 are hardly affected. Therefore, there is no possibility that the edge rubber 27 is broken by the rotational force of the container 23 or that a gap is formed between the door 22 and the edge rubber 27 and fragments are scattered outside the machine through this gap. Safety can be improved.

  Further, when the door 22 is opened, the set screw 47 is loosened, and the edge rubber 27 is removed from the upper surface plate 26, the container 23 can be pulled out from the opening 44 of the upper surface plate 26 to the upper side of the housing 21, so that the container 23 can be easily removed. Can be cleaned.

  Furthermore, since the presser ring 46 is fitted into the annular groove 45 of the edge rubber 27, deformation, breakage, etc. of the edge rubber 27 can be suppressed.

It is a sectional side view which shows the closed state of the centrifuge which employ | adopted the container attachment structure which concerns on this invention. It is a top view of the housing | casing of a centrifuge. It is an AA line expanded sectional view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the attachment structure of the container in the conventional centrifuge. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the attachment structure of the container in the other conventional centrifuge.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Bucket, 20 ... Centrifuge, 21 ... Housing, 22 ... Door, 23 ... Container, 23A ... Main body, 23B ... Bump, 24 ... Centrifuge rotor, 25 ... Drive motor, 26 ... Top plate, 27: edge rubber, 27C: pressing portion, 45: annular groove, 46: pressing ring, 50: elastic member for container support, 51: mounting bracket.

Claims (3)

A housing that is open at the top, a container with a hook that accommodates a rotor that is disposed in the housing and that centrifuges the sample, and an opening that is provided in the upper opening of the housing and into which the container is inserted. An upper surface plate, a door that is openably and closably attached to the housing and covers an upper surface opening of the housing, and a gap between the door and the upper surface plate that is attached to the upper surface plate and closes the door In a centrifuge with an edge rubber that seals
The diameter of the opening of the upper surface plate is made larger than the outer diameter of the flange portion of the container, a container supporting elastic member is attached to the back surface of the upper surface plate via a mounting bracket, and the container is placed in the casing in the upper surface plate. It is stored in a lower position, the edge rubber is provided with a pressing portion extending below the upper surface plate, and the flange portion of the container is sandwiched between the pressing portion and the container supporting elastic member. Centrifuge container mounting structure.   2. The centrifuge container mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the mounting bracket has a lower rigidity than that of the upper surface plate.   The container mounting structure for a centrifuge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an annular groove is provided in the edge rubber, and a pressing ring is fitted into the annular groove.

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