Transfer cell connection port comprising a flange and a door with an external system for operating its door

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a connection port for a sealed transfer cell, comprising a flange (2) having an external face (8) and an internal face (7) which carries a hinge (4) to which a door (3) is secured to close a central opening of the flange (2). The hinge (4) comprises two fixed bearings (12, 13) rigidly secured to the flange (2) which carry a rotary element (10) to which the door (3) is fixed. The flange (2) is equipped with an operating system for opening and closing the door (3) from the external face (8), which comprises a rotary transmission (18) having one end rigidly secured to the rotary element (10) of the hinge (4) and another end linked by a rack and pinion connection to a slide passing through the external face (8) of the flange (2). Figure for abstract: Figure 1

Description

Title of the invention: Transfer cell connection port comprising a flange and a door with an external system for operating its door Technical field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of sealed transfer of components from a sealed container to a sealed cell, with a double-door connection system. STATE OF THE PRIOR ART

[0002] In various industrial sectors, it is necessary to carry out tasks in a confined atmosphere, to protect the environment for example from radioactivity or toxicity, or to carry out these tasks in an aseptic atmosphere, or both simultaneously.

[0003] The transfer of devices or products from a container to a cell without breaking the seal is ensured with a double-door connection device, such a device being known for example from document FR2695343.

[0004] In such a device, the sealed transfer cell is equipped with a transfer port comprising a flange equipped with a door allowing the central opening of this flange to be closed or opened. In practice, the door is located on the internal side of the flange, that is to say in the cell, being linked to this flange by a hinge. The container is closed by a door mounted in a flange of this container to which it is secured by a bayonet connection. Two other bayonet connections allow the flanges to be secured to each other, and the doors to be secured to each other.

[0005] It is common to refer to the cell flange and door as alpha flange and alpha door, and to refer to the container flange and door as beta flange and beta door.

[0006] The connection of the container to the cell is ensured by applying the flange of the container against that of the cell, and by pivoting it on itself, which has the effect of:

[0007] - secure the two flanges to each other using their bayonet connection;

[0008] - secure the two doors to each other with another bayonet connection;

[0009] - disconnect the bayonet connection linking the container door to its flange.

[0010] Once this connection has been made, the cell door can be pivoted inwards around its hinge, so as to open the communication: the container door then being rigidly secured to that of the cell by the corresponding bayonet connection, it opens jointly with the cell door.

[0011] Once the transfer of components or materials has been carried out from the container to the cell or vice versa, the cell door with the container door attached to it are pivoted around the hinge. The container is then pivoted on itself in the opposite direction, which has the effect of:

[0012] - secure the container door to the container flange;

[0013] - separate the container door from the cell door;

[0014] - separate the container flange from the cell flange.

[0015] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a solution allowing an operator located outside the cell to close and open the door which is located inside the cell. SUMMARY

[0016] For this purpose, the present disclosure relates to a connection port for a sealed transfer cell, this port comprising a flange having an external face and an internal face which carries a hinge to which is secured a door movable between an open position and a closed position in which this door closes a central opening of the flange, the hinge comprising at least one fixed bearing rigidly secured to the flange which bearing carries a rotary element to which the door is rigidly secured, the flange being equipped with an operating system for opening and closing the door from the external face, characterized in that the operating system comprises a rotary transmission comprising two rotary ends inclined relative to each other,one end being rotationally connected to the rotating element of the hinge and the other end being connected by a rack and pinion type connection to a slide which passes through the external face of the flange, so that a translation of the slide causes a rotation of the door.

[0017] With this arrangement, the opening and closing of the door is ensured from outside the flange by simple movement of the slider which can be ensured directly or via a lever or via a motorized actuator.

[0018] The present disclosure also relates to a port so defined, in which the rotary transmission comprises at least one gimbal or flexible shaft.

[0019] The present disclosure also relates to a port thus defined, comprising on the external face of the flange, a rotary lever which is linked in movement to the slide by another pinion-rack type connection, this rotary lever being located on the side of the external face of the flange.

[0020] The present disclosure also relates to a port thus defined, in which the lever is rotatable about an axis which is parallel to the external face.

[0021] The present disclosure also relates to a port thus defined, comprising a housing fixed to the external face of the flange, this housing carrying the lever and receiving the slide to guide it in translation, this housing containing the pinion-rack type connection linking the slide to the lever.

[0022] The present disclosure also relates to a port thus defined, in which the slider is equipped with rollers reducing its friction with the housing in which it slides.

[0023] The present disclosure also relates to a port so defined, in which the rotary transmission extends into a notch formed in the flange, to be integrated into the thickness of the flange.

[0024] The present disclosure also relates to a port so defined, in which the rack and pinion type connection connecting the slider to one end of the rotary transmission comprises a toothed wheel carried by a support extending into the notch.

[0025] The present disclosure also relates to a method of using a port so defined, comprising the operation of moving the slider to operate the door.

[0026] The present disclosure also relates to a method thus defined, in which the port comprises on the external face of the flange a rotary lever which is linked in movement to the slide by another connection of the pinion-rack type, this method comprising the operation of pivoting the rotary lever to move the slide.

[0027] The present disclosure also relates to a method of using a sealed transfer cell connection port in which this port comprises a flange having an external face and an internal face which carries a hinge to which is secured a door movable between an open position and a closed position in which this door closes a central opening of the flange, the hinge comprising at least one fixed bearing rigidly secured to the flange, this bearing carrying a rotary element to which the door is rigidly secured, the flange being equipped with an operating system for opening and closing the door from the external face, characterized in that the operating system comprises a rotary transmission comprising two rotary ends inclined relative to each other,one end being rotationally connected to the rotating element of the hinge and the other end being connected by a rack and pinion type connection to a slide which passes through the external face of the flange, so that a translation of the slide causes a rotation of the door, this method comprising the operation of moving the slide to maneuver the door.

[0028] The present disclosure also relates to a method thus defined, in which the port comprises on the external face of the flange a rotary lever which is linked in movement to the slide by another connection of the pinion-rack type, this method comprising the operation of pivoting the rotary lever to move the slide. Brief description of the drawings

[0029] [Fig. 1] is a view of the connection port according to the present disclosure shown on the inside face of the flange when the door is closed;

[0030] [Fig.2] is a view of the connection port according to the present disclosure shown from the side of the inner face of the flange when the door is open;

[0031] [Fig. 3] is a view of the connection port according to the present disclosure shown from the outer face side when the door is closed;

[0032] [Fig.4] is a view of the transmission mechanism of the connection port according to the present disclosure which is shown alone when the door is closed;

[0033] [Fig.5] is a view of the transmission mechanism of the connection port according to the present disclosure which is shown alone when the door is open;

[0034] [Fig.6] is a view of the housing of the connection port according to the present disclosure shown alone;

[0035] [Fig.7] is a view of the slide of the connection port housed in the housing ensuring its maintenance;

[0036] [Fig.8] is a view of the transmission mechanism according to the present disclosure with its housing and with the flange. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] In Figures 1 to 3, a connection port 1 for a sealed transfer cell comprises a cell flange 2 supporting a door 3 secured to this flange 2 by a hinge 4. This flange 2 is fixed to an opening (not shown) in a cell wall, and has a shape of revolution around an axis AX, to delimit a circular central opening 6.

[0038] It comprises an internal face 7 appearing in figures 1 and 2 and extending inside the cell which it equips, and an external face 8, identified in figures 1 and 2, but appearing more clearly in [Fig.3] and extending outside the cell which it equips.

[0039] The opening 6 which is free in the situation of [Fig. 2], can be closed as in [Fig. 1], by folding the door 3 against the flange 2 by pivoting this door 3 around the hinge 4. The hinge 4 extends along an axis AY normal to the axis AX and spaced from it by a distance greater than the radius of the opening 6.

[0040] The door 3 is connected to the hinge 4 by an arm 9 having a first end rigidly secured to a rotating element 10 of the hinge 4, and a second end rigidly fixed to the door 3. The rotating element 10 of the hinge is part of the arm 9, with which it constitutes a single monobloc piece.

[0041] As indicated above, the hinge 4 comprises a rotary element 10, pivoting around the axis AY, this rotary element 10 being carried by bearings 12 and 13 forming part of the flange 2 and / or rigidly fixed to its internal face 7. In practice, the rotary element 10 is crossed by an axis carrying two rings 11 protruding on either side of this element and forming with it a rigid whole. These two rings 11 are carried by the bearings 12 and 13 relative to which they rotate with the element 10 and the arm 9, when the door is operated.

[0042] The door 3 which is located on the side of the internal face of the port 1 is operated by means of a lever 14 which is located on the external side of the port 1, this lever 14 being coupled to the rotary element 10 of the hinge by means of an operating system 16, a part of which is integrated into the thickness of the flange 2.

[0043] As visible in figures 1 to 3, the lever 14 is movable in rotation around an axis AR1 parallel to the external face 8 and perpendicular to the axis AX, so that this lever 14 is movable in a plane perpendicular to the external face 8 which is situated radially outside the opening 6.

[0044] Starting from the situation in [Fig.l], for an operator located on the external side of the port 1, opening the door consists of pivoting the lever 14 about half a turn around the axis AR1, first pulling it towards oneself, then folding it towards the external face 8 to place it in a position opposite its initial position as shown in [Fig.2]. Similarly, closing the door consists of maneuvering the lever in the opposite direction.

[0045] The operating system 16, visible in figures 4 and 5, comprises a slide 17 movable through the flange 2 which is linked in movement on the one hand to the rotary lever 14, and on the other hand to one end of a rotary transmission 18 whose opposite end is coupled in rotation to the rotary element 10 of the hinge 4. The transmission 18 extends in a notch 19 which is a recess formed on the internal face 7 of the flange 2.

[0046] The lever 14 comprises a hub 21 extended by a radial arm 22 terminated by a handle 23 which extends parallel to its axis of rotation, so that it is here a lever of the crank type. This lever 14 is carried at the level of its hub 21 by a shaft 24 with which it is rigidly secured, and this shaft 24 is carried by a housing 25 fixed to the external face 8 of the flange 2.

[0047] This housing 25 which is generally parallelepipedal is fixed to the external face 8, for example by two screws marked 26 in [Fig. 3], which pass through it by being screwed into the flange 2, these screws extending parallel to the axis AX. It comprises a fixing face and a front face which are normal to the axis AX, a radially lower face and a radially upper face relative to the axis AX which are parallel to each other having orthoradial orientations relative to this axis AX, and two lateral faces parallel to each other.

[0048] The slide 17 is movable in translation along an axis AT parallel to the axis AX, through the external face 8 of the flange 2, while being carried by the housing 25 which ensures its maintenance and its guidance in translation.

[0049] A first toothed wheel 27 located inside the housing 25, carried by the shaft 24 to which it is rigidly secured, is meshed in a first rack 28 formed on one face of the slide 17, to constitute a first pinion-rack connection 29.

[0050] A second toothed wheel 31 is rigidly secured to a first end of the transmission 18, being meshed in a second rack 32 formed on another face of the slide 17, to constitute a second pinion-rack connection 33. This second toothed wheel 31 is carried by a support 34 which is fixed to the flange 2, on the side of its internal face 7 while being located in the notch 19 opposite the housing 25.

[0051] The first end of the transmission 18 is rotatable about an axis AR2 which is orthoradial with respect to the axis AX, that is to say parallel to the external face 8 but perpendicular to the axis AR1 of the lever 14 which is oriented radially with respect to the axis AX. Similarly, the second rack 32 is formed in a face of the slide 17 which is perpendicular to the face of this slide 17 carrying the first rack 28.

[0052] The slide 17 with its racks 28 and 32 meshed in the toothed wheels 27 and 31 thus transforms the rotational movement of the lever 14 around its axis AR1 into a rotational movement around an axis AR2 perpendicular to this axis AR1, in order to transmit it to the hinge 4 via the transmission 18.

[0053] A rotation of the lever 14 which is located on the external side of the flange 2, thus makes it possible to maneuver the door 3 which is located on the internal side of the flange, to open or close this door 3 by actuating the lever 14 from outside the cell.

[0054] As visible in Figures 4 and 5, the slide 17 comprises a parallelepiped body 36, one lateral face of which comprises the first rack 28, this body 36 being extended by a lug 37, one face of which comprises the second rack 32, this lug 37 extending along the translation axis AT of the slide.

[0055] The slider 17 is housed in the housing 25 while being movable in translation therein, while being engaged in a first internal parallelepiped through cavity formed in this housing 25, this first cavity being marked by 38 in [Fig.6].

[0056] To limit the friction of the external faces of the body 36 with the internal faces of the cavity 38, this body 36 is equipped with three rollers 39 which are flush with its face opposite that carrying the first rack 28. It also comprises two other rollers 41 which are flush with its radially upper face, and two other rollers not visible in the figures which are flush with its radially lower face.

[0057] As visible in Figures 4 and 5, the upper and lower faces of the body 36 are orthoradial with respect to the axis AX, that is to say parallel to the axis AX and perpendicular to the lateral face carrying the first rack 28. The radially upper face is that which is furthest from the axis AX while the radially lower face is that which is closest to this axis.

[0058] The housing 25 comprises a second cavity 42 which is also through and parallel lepiped, in which the first toothed wheel 27 is housed, and this second cavity comprises a part common with the first cavity 38 to allow the meshing of the toothed wheel 27 with the rack 28.

[0059] As visible in [Fig.6], the cavities 38 and 42 are through-cavities, that is to say that they each open in the fixing face and in the front face of the housing 25 which are parallel to the face 8 of the flange 2.

[0060] The first toothed wheel 27 which extends into the second cavity 42 is carried by the shaft 24 of the lever 14 which passes radially through the housing 25 while being engaged in two holes 43 and 44 formed in this housing 25. These two holes 43 and 44 both open into the second cavity 42 while extending in the extension of one another, the hole 43 also opening into the radially external face of the housing 25 to allow the engagement of the shaft 24 also carrying the hub 21 of the lever 14.

[0061] The second toothed wheel 31 is carried by the support 34 which is located in the notch 19 opposite the housing 25 in the axial direction, the fixing of this support 34 to the flange 2 being ensured by three screws marked 46 in [Fig.8], these three screws extending parallel to the axis AX.

[0062] The transmission 18 comprises, in the example of the figures, a first universal joint 47 linked in rotation to a second universal joint 48. The first universal joint 47 has one end integral in rotation with the toothed wheel 31 and its other end integral in rotation with one end of the second universal joint 48. The other end of the second universal joint 48 is integral in rotation with one end of the axis carried by the rotary element 10 carrying the rings 11.

[0063] The transmission 18 thus makes it possible to transfer the rotational movement of the toothed wheel 31 to the hinge 4 which are spaced from each other along the periphery of the flange 2 by a distance corresponding approximately to 60° around the axis AX as visible in Figures 1 and 2.

[0064] The axis AY of the hinge 4 and the axis AR2 of the toothed wheel 31 thus form between them an angle of the order of 60° that the rotary transmission 18 allows to transform the rotational movement around the axis AR2 into a rotational movement around the axis AY.

[0065] In the example of the figures, the rotary transmission 18 is a transmission with two cardan joints, but it could have a different number of them, such as for example a single cardan joint, three cardan joints or a greater number. In practice, the number of cardan joints is essentially conditioned by the distance separating the housing 25 from the hinge 4.

[0066] More generally, the rotary transmission 18 is a transmission comprising an input end and an output end inclined relative to each other, that is to say that the axes of rotation of these ends are inclined relative to each other. relative to each other instead of being aligned. This transmission does not have a reducer: the speed of its output end is the same as that of its input end.

[0067] Thus, this rotary transmission 18 could comprise, instead of a universal joint, a flexible shaft, that is to say a shaft capable of being significantly bent or curved while rotating, or even one or more gear trains arranged to have an output shaft having an oblique orientation relative to its input shaft.

[0068] The notch 19 formed on the internal face 7 is a recess formed on this face 7, which contains the support 34 as well as the transmission 18. This notch 19 has a shape similar to a bean shape extending over an area slightly less than 60°. This notch 19 contains the support 34 and the transmission 18 and it is closed by a cover not shown in the figures, to ensure that the space located on the internal side of the flange cannot be polluted for example by dust or the like generated by the operating system. This cover also ensures the sealing of the space located on the internal side of the flange with respect to the operating system and the space located on the external side of the flange.

Claims

Claims

1. Connection port (1) for a sealed transfer cell, this port (1) comprising a flange (2) having an external face (8) and an internal face (7) which carries a hinge (4) to which is secured a door (3) movable between an open position and a closed position in which this door (3) closes a central opening (6) of the flange, the hinge (4) comprising at least one fixed bearing (12, 13) rigidly secured to the flange (2), this bearing carrying a rotary element (10) to which the door (3) is rigidly secured, the flange (2) being equipped with an operating system (16) for opening and closing the door (3) from the external face (8), characterized in that the operating system (16) comprises a rotary transmission (18) comprising two rotary ends inclined relative to each other,one end being linked in rotation to the rotating element (10) of the hinge (4) and the other end being linked by a rack and pinion type connection (29) to a slider (17) which passes through the external face (8) of the flange (2), so that a translation of the slider (17) generates a rotation of the door (3).,

2. A port according to claim 1, wherein the rotary transmission (18) comprises at least one gimbal (47, 48) or flexible shaft.

3. Port according to claim 1 or 2 comprising a rotary lever (14) which is linked in movement to the slide (17) by another pinion-rack type connection (33), this rotary lever (14) being located on the side of the external face (8) of the flange (2).

4. Port according to claim 3, in which the lever (14) is rotatable about an axis (AR1) which is parallel to the external face (8).

5. Port according to claim 3, comprising a housing (25) fixed to the external face (8) of the flange (2), this housing (25) carrying the lever (14) and receiving the slider (17) to guide it in translation, this housing (25) containing the rack-and-pinion type connection (29) linking the slider (17) to the lever (14).

6. Port according to claim 5, in which the slider (17) is equipped with rollers (39, 41) reducing its friction with the housing (25) in which it slides.

7. A port according to claim 1, wherein the rotary transmission (18) extends into a notch (19) formed in the flange (2), to be integrated into the thickness of the flange (2).

8. A port according to claim 7, wherein the pinion-type connection rack (29) connecting the slider (17) to one end of the rotary transmission (18) comprises a toothed wheel (31) carried by a support (34) extending into the notch (19).

9. A method of using a port according to claim 1, comprising the operation of moving the slider (17) to operate the door (3).

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the port comprises at the external face (8) of the flange (2) a rotary lever (14) which is movably linked to the slider (17) by another rack-and-pinion type connection, this method comprising the operation of pivoting the rotary lever (14) to move the slider (17).

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