JPH11332958A - Safety mechanism for door of pressure container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a safety mechanism for surely preventing the falling of a door in the pressure container of a sterilization device or the like. SOLUTION: A guide rail 3 is disposed on the side part of the opening part of the pressure container 1, the door 4 to be moved in a vertical direction is disposed along the guide rail 3 and the packing 6 of an extrusion type abutted to the back surface of the door 4 is disposed around the opening part 2. The guide rail 3 and the door 4 are provided with an engaging means 15 for blocking the door 4 from moving in an opening direction when the inside of the pressure container 1 is in a state above an atmospheric pressure and provided with an interval keeping means 18 for keeping a prescribed interval between the guide rail 3 and the door 4 and disengaging the engaging means 15 when the inside of the pressure container 1 is in the state of the almost atmospheric pressure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a safety mechanism for preventing a door from falling in a pressure vessel such as a medical sterilizer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sterilization apparatus is an apparatus for carrying out a sterilization process by supplying an object to be sterilized in a sterilization tank as a pressure vessel and then supplying steam. A guide rail is provided on the front side of the sterilization tank, and the door is moved up and down along the guide rail to open or close the opening. An extruded packing is provided around the opening so as to be in contact with the back surface of the door, and the packing is sealed by extruding the packing with pressurized air. A hook member is provided at the upper end of the door, and the door is fixed by engaging the hook member with an engaging portion on the sterilization tank side.

[0003]

When the inside of the sterilization tank is pressurized and the hook member comes off, the door falls and the steam inside blows out, and there is a danger that the operator may get burned. . Therefore, when the inside of the sterilization tank is in a pressurized state,
It is necessary to prevent the door from falling. An object of the present invention is to provide a safety mechanism for reliably preventing a door from falling in a pressure vessel such as a sterilizer.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a guide rail is provided on a side of an opening of a pressure vessel, and a door is provided which moves vertically along the guide rail.
Around the opening, an extruded packing is provided to abut against the back of the door, and the guide rail and the door move in the opening direction when the pressure vessel is at or above atmospheric pressure. Distance maintaining means for maintaining a predetermined distance between the guide rail and the door and disengaging the engaging means when the pressure vessel is substantially at atmospheric pressure. It is characterized by having.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the engaging means includes a projection and an opening into which the projection is fitted.

The invention according to a third aspect is characterized in that the spacing means includes a roller and a spring for urging the roller in a direction in which the door and the guide rail separate from each other.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The pressure vessel of the present invention is mainly used for a sterilizer. A guide rail is provided beside the opening of the pressure vessel. The door is moved up and down along the guide rail to open or close the opening. A push-type packing that comes into contact with the back surface of the door is provided around the opening, and the pressure vessel is sealed by extruding the packing with pressurized air.

[0008] The guide rail and the door are provided with engaging means for preventing the door from moving in the opening direction when the pressure vessel is at or above atmospheric pressure. The engagement means includes a projection and an opening into which the projection fits.
The projection may be provided on the door, and the opening may be provided on the guide rail. Conversely, the projection may be provided on the guide rail, and the opening may be provided on the door. Further, it is also possible to provide a configuration in which both the door and the guide rail are provided with projections, and the projections are engaged with each other.

When the inside of the pressure vessel is substantially at atmospheric pressure, there is provided an interval maintaining means for maintaining a predetermined interval between the guide rail and the door to disengage the engaging means. The spacing means includes a roller and a spring for urging the roller in a direction in which the door and the guide rail separate from each other. The elastic force of the spring is set to be smaller than the force for pressing the back surface of the door with the packing and the force of the pressure in the pressure vessel pressing the back surface of the door. As the roller, a spherical roller or a cylindrical roller can be used. The interval maintaining means,
It may be provided on the door side or on the guide rail side.

According to the above configuration, when the opening is closed by the door, the door is pushed from the back by the force for pushing out the packing, and the door moves forward. Then, the engaging means is in the engaged state, and the door does not move in the opening direction, so that the door can be reliably prevented from dropping. Therefore, the pressurized fluid (for example, steam) in the pressure vessel is not jetted out, so that it is safe.

When the door is opened to open the opening, the inside of the pressure vessel returns to a substantially atmospheric pressure state and the force for pushing out the packing is released. The door and the guide rail are separated from each other by a predetermined distance, and the engagement of the engagement means is released. Therefore, the door can be safely and smoothly opened without any pressure remaining in the pressure vessel.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a sterilizer will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of a sterilizer to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of FIG.

The pressure vessel 1 as a sterilization tank has an opening 2 on the front surface, and a pair of guide rails 3 and 3 are provided beside the opening 2. The door 4 is slid up and down along the guide rail 3 to open or close the opening 2. In FIG. 1, the door 4 is in the open position, and the closed position is indicated by a two-dot chain line. In FIG. 3, the door 4 is in the closed position.

A handle 5 is provided above the front surface of the door 4. The whole handle 4 is moved up and down by grasping the handle 5. Although not shown, a hook member for fixing the door 4 to the closed position is provided at an upper end of the door 4, and a releasing means of the hook member is provided integrally with the handle 5. Although not shown, a wire is extended through a pulley provided at a predetermined position, one end of the wire is connected to a lower end of the door 4, and a weight is connected to the other end. The weight of the door 4 and the weight of the door 4 are balanced to prevent the door 4 from being lowered by its own weight, and to allow the up and down operation to be performed smoothly.

An extruded packing 6 is provided around the opening 2 so as to be in contact with the back surface of the door 4. By supplying pressurized air to the back surface of the packing 6, the packing 6 is pressed against the back surface of the door 4, and the pressure vessel 1 is sealed.

The pressure vessel 1 is mounted and fixed on a gantry 7. A steam generator 8 is provided behind the pressure vessel 1, and a water supply tank 9 and a compressor 10 are provided below the pressure vessel 1. Provided. The steam generator 8 includes an electric heater 11 and produces steam for heating and sterilizing to be supplied to the pressure vessel 1. The water supply tank 9 supplies makeup water to the steam generator 8. The compressor 10
Produces pressurized air to be supplied to the packing 6. The piping is not shown.

An upper panel 12 and a lower panel 13 are provided on the front surface of the gantry 7. Although illustration is omitted,
The upper panel 12 is provided with operation switches and a display unit. A controller 14 is provided behind the upper panel 12.

Next, the main parts of the sterilization apparatus to which the present invention is applied are shown in enlarged scale in FIGS. 4 is a front view, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view when the inside of the pressure vessel 1 in FIG.

The guide rail 3 and the door 4 are provided with engaging means 15 for preventing the door 4 from moving in the opening direction (downward) when the pressure vessel 1 is at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure. . Projections 16 are provided on both sides of the lower end of the front surface of the door 4, and openings 17 are provided on the guide rail 3 at positions corresponding to the projections 16 when the door 4 is in the closed position. The projection 16 and the opening 17 constitute the engaging means 15.

When the door 4 is moved to the closed position, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the projection 16 and the opening 17 are in a state of facing each other. When the operation switch is turned ON, the door 4
Is detected by a limit switch (not shown) at the uppermost position (closed position), and pressurized air is sent to the back surface of the packing 6. Then, the pressure vessel 1 is sealed by the action of the packing 6, and the door 4 is pushed from the back by the force of pushing out the packing 6, and FIG.
As shown in the figure, the projection 16 fits into the opening 17. After detecting that the back pressure of the packing 6 has reached a predetermined value, steam is supplied into the pressure vessel 1 to sterilize the object to be sterilized.

During the sterilization process, the protrusion 16 is
7, the door 4 does not open even if an operator accidentally tries to open the door 4 or an external force is applied to the door 4 in an opening direction due to an unexpected situation. Therefore, the steam in the pressure vessel 1 does not blow out,
It is safe. Also, even if the packing member 6 is accidentally pulled in during the sterilization process with the hook member detached, the door 4 is pushed forward by the internal pressure. Does not fall. The steam blows up, down, left, and right from between the door 4 and the packing 6, and the worker in front is safe from the direct hit of the steam.

A spacing means 18 is provided between the guide rail 3 and the door 4 so that the sterilization process is completed, the pressure vessel 1 is brought to a substantially atmospheric pressure, and the packing 6 is removed. When the pushing force is released, a predetermined distance is maintained between the guide rail 3 and the surface of the door 4 on the protrusion 16 side. In the illustrated embodiment, a spherical roller 19 is provided at a position near the protrusion 16 on the front surface of the door 4, and the roller 19 is attached to the door 4.
And a spring 2 for urging the guide rail 3 in a direction in which the guide rail 3 separates
0 is provided. These rollers 19 and springs 20
Thus, the distance maintaining means 18 is constituted. The elastic force of the spring 20 is set smaller than the force of pressing the packing 6 on the rear surface of the door 4 and the force of the pressure in the pressure vessel 1 pressing the rear surface of the door 4.

When the door 4 is moved up and down, the door 4 and the guide rail 3 are separated from each other by the action of the spacing means 18 and the engagement between the projection 16 and the opening 17 is released. The protrusions 16 do not contact the guide rails 3, and the rollers 19 contact the guide rails 3, so that the door 4 can be moved up and down smoothly.

The engaging means 15 and the spacing means 18 correspond to the pair of guide rails 3 and 3, respectively.
One set is provided on each of the left and right sides of the door 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of another embodiment of a sterilizer to which the present invention is applied. In the embodiment shown in FIG.
1 is provided. The limit switch 21 electrically detects that the projection 16 is fitted into the opening 17. If there is no signal from the limit switch 21, the control will not proceed to the next step, thereby further improving the safety.

[0026]

According to the present invention, a pressure vessel which is safe and excellent in operability can be provided. That is,
By the action of the engagement means, when the inside of the pressure vessel is at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, the door does not move in the opening direction, and it is possible to reliably prevent the door from falling. Therefore, the pressurized fluid in the pressure vessel does not erupt, which is safe. In addition, when the pressure vessel is substantially at atmospheric pressure, the door and the guide rail are separated from each other by a predetermined distance due to the action of the spacing means, the engagement of the engaging means is released, and the door is opened smoothly. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a sterilizer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a main part of an embodiment of a sterilization apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view when the inside of the pressure vessel is in a pressurized state in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of another embodiment of a sterilization apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pressure container 2 Opening 3 Guide rail 4 Door 6 Packing 15 Engagement means 16 Projection 17 Opening 18 Spacing maintaining means 19 Roller 20 Spring

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A guide rail (3) is provided on a side of an opening (2) of a pressure vessel (1), and a door (4) that moves vertically along the guide rail (3) is provided.
A push-out packing 6 is provided in contact with the rear surface of the guide rail 3, and the guide rail 3 and the door 4 prevent the door 4 from moving in the opening direction when the pressure vessel 1 is at or above atmospheric pressure. An engaging means 15 is provided to maintain a predetermined distance between the guide rail 3 and the door 4 to release the engagement of the engaging means 15 when the inside of the pressure vessel 1 is substantially at atmospheric pressure. A safety mechanism for a pressure vessel door, comprising: means 18. 2. A projection 16 as said engagement means 15,
The safety mechanism for a pressure vessel door according to claim 1, further comprising an opening (17) into which the projection (16) fits. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said spacing means includes a roller, and a spring for urging said roller in a direction in which said door and said guide rail separate from each other. A safety mechanism for a pressure vessel door according to item 1.