Partition wall device for storing carry-in object

Abstract

To provide a partition wall device for storing a carry-in object which enables reduction of contamination risks when a carry-in object is carried into a work space of a safety cabinet and enables improvement of workability of a worker.SOLUTION: The disclosure relates to a partition wall device for storing a carry-in object which is disposed in front of a safety cabinet installed in a clean room, facing the safety cabinet. The partition wall device for storing the carry-in object has: a frame having a width which is equivalent to or larger than the width of the safety cabinet and having a height which is equivalent to or larger than the height of the upper end of the front surface opening of the safety cabinet; a partition wall provided at the frame; a fan filter unit which is fixed to the frame and supplies clean air to a clean area, which is a space defined by the partition wall and the safety cabinet, at a predetermined flow rate; and one or two or more storages each of which is held by the frame, has an opening / closing door facing the clean area, and stores the carry-in object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a bulkhead device for temporarily storing items to be brought into a safety cabinet installed in a clean room. [Background technology]

[0002] The safety cabinet disclosed in Patent Document 1 below (also referred to as a Biological Safety Cabinet (BSC)) is installed in, for example, clean rooms in regenerative medicine facilities, testing facilities, and biopharmaceutical facilities. The safety cabinet has an internal work space where clean air circulates, and a shutter that can slide up and down is provided at the front opening overlooking this work space. After an operator slides the shutter upwards by about 200 mm, items such as raw materials, instruments, and reagents are carried into the work space through the front opening.

[0003] Generally, the cleanliness level of a clean room is set lower than that of a working space, and there is a risk that contaminating particles will flow into the working space when carrying in an item stored in a designated position in the clean room into the working space. In order to reduce such a contamination risk, it has been proposed to connect a pass box equipped with an electron beam irradiator to the side of a safety cabinet (see, for example, Patent Document 2). A worker opens the door of the pass box from the working space side and carries in the item from the pass box into the working space. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6216664 [Patent Document 2] JP 2022-123184 A (see FIG. 11) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In general, not only raw materials but also many instruments and reagents are arranged in the work space. It is extremely difficult for workers to open the door of the pass box from the work space side and to carry in items from the pass box to a designated position in the work space without touching the instruments and reagents arranged in the work space. In addition, if the items come into contact with the instruments and reagents arranged in the work space, the items will be contaminated.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an incoming item storage partition device that can reduce the risk of contamination when an incoming item is brought into a work space of a safety cabinet and improve the workability of an operator. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present disclosure relates to an incoming item storage partition device disposed facing the front of a safety cabinet installed in a clean room. The incoming item storage partition device includes a frame having a width equal to or greater than that of the safety cabinet and a height equal to or greater than that of the upper end of the front opening of the safety cabinet, a partition wall provided on the frame, a fan filter unit fixed to the frame, which defines a space defined by the partition wall and the safety cabinet as a clean area and supplies clean air to the clean area at a predetermined flow rate, and one or more storage cabinets held by the frame, which have an opening / closing door facing the clean area, and which store incoming items.

[0008] The second aspect has the following features in addition to those of the first aspect: The frame has a first frame portion and a second frame portion arranged with a gap therebetween in the width direction. The fan filter unit is arranged in an upper portion of a space between the first frame portion and the second frame portion, and the storage is arranged so that the opening and closing door faces the space.

[0009] The third aspect has the same features as the first or second aspect, and further includes the following features: Casters are provided at the lower end of the frame.

[0010] To solve the above problems, a fourth aspect of the present disclosure relates to a bulkhead device for storing incoming items that is disposed in front of and facing a safety cabinet installed in a clean room. The bulkhead device for storing incoming items includes a storage unit having a bulkhead and one or more storage cabinets for storing incoming items, and a fan filter unit that defines a space defined by the bulkhead and the safety cabinet as a clean area and supplies clean air to the clean area at a predetermined flow rate, and the storage cabinet has an opening / closing door facing the clean area.

[0011] The fifth aspect has the following features in addition to the fourth aspect: The storage unit has a first storage section and a second storage section arranged with a gap in the width direction. A fan filter unit is arranged in an upper portion of a space between the first storage section and the second storage section, and a storage cabinet is arranged in each of the first storage section and the second storage section so that an opening and closing door faces the space.

[0012] The sixth aspect has the following features in addition to the fourth or fifth aspect: the storage unit has a width equal to or greater than the width of the safety cabinet and a height equal to or greater than the height of an upper end of a front opening of the safety cabinet. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present disclosure, by disposing a bulkhead for storing incoming items in front of a safety cabinet in a clean room, a clean area is defined between the safety cabinet and the bulkhead for storing incoming items. By supplying clean air from a fan filter unit to this clean area, the cleanliness of the clean area can be adjusted to the cleanliness of the work space equivalent to that of the safety cabinet. In this state, the opening and closing door of the storage cabinet is opened, the incoming items are taken out of the storage cabinet to the clean area, and the incoming items are carried into the work space from the front opening of the safety cabinet facing the clean area. In this way, the incoming items are carried into the work space in the safety cabinet through the clean area, so that the risk of contamination can be reduced. Moreover, since the incoming items are carried into the work space from the front opening, it is possible to easily avoid instruments and reagents arranged in large numbers in the work space, and the workability of the worker can be improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing a schematic overview of an incoming item storage partition device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an incoming item storage partition device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of a clean area formed between an incoming item storage partition device and a safety cabinet. [Figure 4] FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the flow of carried-in items, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the flow of workers. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. However, when the number, quantity, amount, range, etc. of each element is mentioned in the embodiments shown below, this disclosure is not limited to the mentioned number unless it is specifically stated or clearly specified in principle. Furthermore, the structures, etc. described in the embodiments shown below are not necessarily essential to this disclosure unless it is specifically stated or clearly specified in principle.

[0016] Fig. 1 is a side view showing an outline of an incoming item storage partition device according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a front view showing a configuration of the incoming item storage partition device. Fig. 3 is a view showing a clean area formed between the incoming item storage partition device and a safety cabinet.

[0017] The clean room 2 in which the bulkhead device 1 for storing incoming items is installed is a facility such as a regenerative medicine facility, a testing facility, or a biopharmaceutical facility. A safety cabinet 3 is often installed in the clean room 2 of such a facility. The safety cabinet 3 has an internal work space 32, which is a sterile operation area in which air purified by, for example, a HEPA filter 31 circulates. In the work space 32, an operator Op (see FIG. 4(b)) performs medium replacement work and raw material and specimen processing work. For this reason, although not shown, a large number of raw materials (including samples), specimens, instruments, reagents, etc. that have already been brought in are arranged in the work space 32. A front opening 33 facing the work space 32 is opened in the front of the safety cabinet 3. A shutter 34 that can slide up and down is provided in the front opening 33, so that the opening area of ​​the front opening 33 can be changed.

[0018] The incoming item storage partition device 1 is disposed facing the front of the safety cabinet 3. The distance d between the incoming item storage partition device 1 and the safety cabinet 3 can be set, for example, in the range of 1000 mm to 1500 mm so as to minimize the amount of work required by one or two workers. The incoming item storage partition device 1 includes a frame 11, a partition 12, a fan filter unit 13, and a storage cabinet 14.

[0019] The frame 11 has an outer shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped. The frame 11 is made of, for example, steel so as to have a predetermined strength, but is desirably made of a chemical-resistant material (including coating) when performing indoor sterilization in the clean room 2. The frame 11 has a width w equal to or greater than that of the safety cabinet 3, and a height equal to or greater than the height of the upper end of the front opening 33 of the safety cabinet 3. The width w of the frame 11 can be set to, for example, 1800 mm. The height h of the frame 11 can be set to a height equal to that of the safety cabinet 3, specifically, in the range of 2100 mm to 2200 mm, taking into consideration the workability of the operator Op when taking out the carry-in object Do from the storage cabinet 14. The depth (length in the front-rear direction) of the frame 11 can be set to be equal to the depth of the storage cabinet 14. The frame 11 has a first frame portion 111 and a second frame portion 112 arranged with an interval in the width direction. A space 113 for taking in and out the carry-in object is formed between the first frame portion 111 and the second frame portion 112. The first frame section 111 and the second frame section 112 have the same configuration. Taking the first frame section 111 as an example, the first frame section 111 has four upper supports 114 and four lower supports 115. The lower ends of the four upper supports 114 are fixed to the four corners of the upper surface of the storage cabinet 14, respectively, and the upper ends of the four lower supports 115 are fixed to the four corners of the lower surface of the storage cabinet 14, respectively. The method of fixing each support 114, 115 to the storage cabinet 14 is not particularly limited, and welding, bolts, etc. can be used, but in the case of performing indoor sterilization in the clean room 2, it is preferable to configure the support 114, 115 with a chemical-resistant material (including coating). The lower end of each lower support 115 is provided with a caster 116, respectively, so that the incoming item storage partition device 1 can be moved. According to this, the incoming item storage partition device 1 can be easily moved to a predetermined position according to a change in the layout of the clean room 2, and usability can be improved. In the configuration described in the above Patent Document 2, the pass box and the safety cabinet must be moved together (integrally) when changing the layout of the clean room 2. Each caster 116 is provided with a stopper (not shown) so that the positioned incoming item storage partition device 1 can be fixed in place.

[0020] The partition 12 is fixed to the frame 11 and is made of, for example, a transparent or semi-transparent resin. Since a known resin can be used as the resin constituting the partition 12, detailed description thereof will be omitted here. The shape of the partition 12 is not particularly limited, and may be a panel or a film. The partition 12 has a first partition part 121 covering the front side (safety cabinet 3 side) of each of the first frame part 111 and the second frame part 112, a second partition part 122 arranged on the back side of the space 113, and a third partition part 123 covering the outer side surfaces in the width direction of the first frame part 111 and the second frame part 112. These partitions 12 and the safety cabinet 3 define a working space 124. The defined space 124 is a clean area, and the clean area includes the space 113 between the first frame part 111 and the second frame part 112.

[0021] The fan filter unit 13 is a high efficiency (HEPA) filter unit with a fan. Of the total eight upper supports 114 of the first frame part 111 and the second frame part 112, the fan filter unit 13 is supported by the upper ends of a total of four upper supports 114 on the space 113 side. As a result, the fan filter unit 13 is disposed at the upper part of the space 113, and clean air is supplied from the fan filter unit 13 to the space 113. Then, most of the clean air is guided toward the space 124 by the second partition part 122, forming the clean areas 113, 124 that are approximately T-shaped in plan view. The remaining clean air passes through the upper space 117 and the lower space 118 of the storage 14, and after changing the direction of the airflow by 90 degrees from the direction toward the outside in the width direction to the direction toward the back side by the first partition part 121 and the third partition part 123, it flows to the back side of the incoming item storage partition device 1.

[0022] The storage 14 has an airtight structure and temporarily stores the incoming object Do therein. The incoming object Do is, for example, a raw material, a specimen, an instrument, or a reagent. The storage 14 is held by the first frame part 111 and the second frame part 112. The storage 14 has a first opening and closing door 141 for putting the incoming object Do into the storage 14 and a second opening and closing door 142 for taking out the incoming object Do from the storage 14. The first opening and closing doors 141 are provided on the rear side (the side facing away from the safety cabinet 3) of the storage 14. The second opening and closing doors 142 are provided on the inner side in the width direction facing the space 113. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the traffic line of the storage 14 is L-shaped. The storage 14 is provided with an interlock (electromagnetic lock) to prevent the first opening and closing door 141 and the second opening and closing door 142 from opening at the same time, like a pass box. The storage 14 may be configured to have a decontamination function using a chemical, a light source, or the like, and to decontaminate the incoming item Do inserted through the first opening / closing door 141. As the storage 14 may be a known pass box, further detailed description will be omitted.

[0023] Next, the function of the above-mentioned bulkhead device 1 for storing incoming items will be explained using the example of a case where an incoming item Do is placed in the storage cabinet 14 of the bulkhead device 1 for storing incoming items, which is arranged opposite the safety cabinet 3, and is then transported into the work space 32 of the safety cabinet 3.

[0024] The bulkhead device 1 for storing incoming items is disposed opposite the safety cabinet 3 to define a clean area 124 for work. When the fan filter unit 13 is operated in this state, clean air is supplied to the clean areas 113 and 124. At this time, the supply volume of air from the fan filter unit 13 is set to, for example, 400 m 3 / h or more and by establishing operational rules such as placing certain restrictions on the work style and changing level of the workers Op, it is possible to consider the cleanliness of the clean areas 113, 124 to be equivalent to the cleanliness of the working space 32 (equivalent to grade a).

[0025] Next, the second opening and closing door 142 of the storage 14 is opened, the incoming item Do is taken out from the storage 14, and the taken-out incoming item Do is carried into the working space 32 through the front opening 33. At this time, the incoming item Do is exposed to the clean area 123, which is higher in cleanliness than the clean room 2 and is adjusted to the same cleanliness as the working space 32, so that the risk of contamination when carrying the incoming item Do into the working space 32 can be reduced. Moreover, since the incoming item is carried into the working space 32 through the front opening 33, it is easy to avoid instruments and reagents arranged in large numbers in the working space 32, and the workability of the operator Op can be improved. The flow line of the incoming item Do from the storage 14 to the working space 32 is L-shaped as shown in FIG. 4(a). At this time, the flow line of the operator Op is a straight line as shown in FIG. 4(b), so that the movement amount of the operator Op can be reduced.

[0026] In addition, the first opening and closing door 141 of the storage 14 is opened, and the incoming item Do is put in and taken out of the storage 14. At this time, as described above, a part of the clean air from the fan filter unit 13 is redirected by the first partition part 121 and the third partition part 123 and flows to the rear side of the incoming item storage partition device 1 (the first opening and closing door 141 side of the storage 14). The clean air flowing in this way cleans the area on the rear side of the storage 14 to some extent. Furthermore, the airflow of the clean air flowing along the rear side of the storage 14, particularly the airflow (downflow) of the clean air that has flowed to the rear side through the upper space 117 of the storage 14 and flows downward, and this, combined with the above-mentioned rear side area being cleaned, can be expected to suppress the entry of dust (contamination particles) into the storage 14 when the incoming item Do is put in and taken out of the storage 14.

[0027] As described above, according to this embodiment, by disposing the bulkhead 1 for storing incoming items in front of the safety cabinet 3 in the clean room 2, a clean area is defined between the safety cabinet 3 and the bulkhead 12 of the bulkhead 1 for storing incoming items. By supplying clean air from the fan filter unit 13 to the clean areas 113 and 124, it is possible to set the cleanliness of the clean areas 113 and 124 to the same cleanliness as the work space 32 of the safety cabinet 3 by providing operational rules. In this state, the second opening and closing door 142 of the storage 14 is opened, the incoming items are taken out of the storage 14 to the clean areas 113 and 124, and the incoming items Do are carried into the work space 32 from the front opening 33 of the safety cabinet 3 facing the clean area 113. In this way, the incoming items Do are carried into the work space 32 in the safety cabinet 3 through the clean areas 113 and 124, thereby reducing the risk of contamination. Moreover, since items are brought into the work space 32 through the front opening 33, they can be easily brought in while avoiding the numerous instruments, reagents, etc. arranged in the work space 32, thereby improving the worker's workability.

[0028] Although the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. In the above embodiment, the frame 11 is described as having a pair of frame parts 111, 112, but may be configured to have one frame part. In this case, one frame part holds one storage cabinet 14. In the above embodiment, the frame parts 111, 112 are described as having one storage cabinet 14, but each of the frame parts 111, 112 may be configured to hold two or more storage cabinets 14 arranged in the vertical direction. In the above embodiment, the frame parts 111, 112 are described as having upper supports 114 and lower supports 115, but may be configured to have a beam connecting the upper supports 114 in order to increase the strength of the frame 11.

[0029] In the above embodiment, the height w of the frame 11 is set to the same height as the safety cabinet 3, but in order to form the clean area 124, it is sufficient to set it to the same height or higher than the height of the upper end of the front opening 33. Furthermore, when the shutter 34 does not slide to the upper end of the front opening 33, the height w of the frame 11 is set to the same height or higher than the height of the lower end of the shutter 34 slid to the upper limit position. However, in consideration of the operability of the operator when opening the second opening / closing door 142 of the storage cabinet 14 and taking out the carry-in item Do, it is preferable to set the height w of the frame 11 to the same height as the safety cabinet 3 (for example, 2100 mm to 2200 mm) as in the above embodiment.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the second partition wall portion 122 is arranged to cover the rear side of the space 113. However, the second partition wall portion 122 may be arranged to further cover the rear sides of the spaces 117 and 118, that is, to cover the entire rear side of the frame 11 (excluding the storage cabinet 14). The partition wall 12 may further have a fourth partition wall portion that covers the inside of the width direction of the spaces 117 and 118, and the fourth partition wall portion may separate the space 113 from the spaces 117 and 118. This can prevent the clean air from the fan filter unit 13 from flowing into the spaces 117 and 118, and can efficiently guide the clean air toward the clean area 124. However, since the air does not flow to the rear side of the spaces 117 and 118, and thus to the rear side of the storage cabinet 14, the effect of cleaning the rear side of the storage cabinet 14 cannot be obtained. The partition wall 12 may be disposed so as to further include a fifth partition wall portion that covers the upper sides of the spaces 117 and 118 and to cover the entire surface of the frame 11.

[0031] In the above embodiment, the resin partition parts 121, 122, 123 are fixed to the support columns 114, 115 of the frame 11 fixed to the upper and lower surfaces of the storage cabinet 14, but the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the frame 11 does not necessarily have to be used. Although not shown, for example, the partition parts 121, 122, 123 of the partition wall 12 may be fixed to the storage cabinet 14 by bolting using a folded steel plate. The partition parts 121, 122, 123 of the partition wall 12 can be formed of separate resin panels, but can also be formed of an integrated resin panel that has been folded. In this case, the partition wall 12 and the storage cabinet 14 constitute a storage unit as claimed. The storage unit has a first storage part and a second storage part that are arranged with a gap in the width direction, as in the above embodiment, and a fan filter unit 13 is arranged at the top of a space 113 for loading and unloading items between the first storage part and the second storage part. The first storage section and the second storage section each have a storage cabinet 14 with a second opening / closing door 142 facing the space 113. By arranging the bulkhead device 1 for storing incoming items, which is provided with such a storage unit, facing the front of the safety cabinet 3 to define a working space 124 and operating the fan filter unit 13, it is possible to make the cleanliness of the clean areas 113 and 124 equal to the cleanliness of the working space 32 of the safety cabinet 3, as in the above embodiment. As a result, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. The thickness of the resin panel can be appropriately set to have a predetermined strength, and may be appropriately reinforced using a known reinforcing member. In addition, a bent steel plate long in the vertical direction can be used as the bulkhead parts 121, 122, and 123 instead of the fixing member. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1... Partition device for storing incoming items, 11... Frame, 111... First frame section, 112... Second frame section, 113... Space (clean area), 114... Upper support, 115... Lower support, 116... Caster, 12... Partition, 121... First partition section, 122... Second partition section, 123... Third partition section, 124... Space (clean area), 13... Fan filter unit, 14... Storage, Pass box, 141... First opening / closing door, 142... Second opening / closing door, 2... Clean room, 3... Safety cabinet, 31... HEPA filter, 32... Working space, 33... Front opening, 34... Shutter, Do... Incoming items, Op... Worker

Claims

1. A bulkhead device for storing incoming items that is disposed opposite to the front of a safety cabinet installed in a clean room, A frame having a width equal to or greater than the width of the safety cabinet and a height equal to or greater than the height of an upper end of a front opening of the safety cabinet; A partition wall provided on the frame; a fan filter unit fixed to the frame, defining a space defined by the partition wall and the safety cabinet as a clean area, and supplying clean air to the clean area at a predetermined flow rate; A partition device for storing incoming items, comprising: one or more storage cabinets held by the frame, having an opening / closing door facing the clean area, and for storing incoming items.

2. The partition device for storing incoming items as described in claim 1, wherein the frame has a first frame portion and a second frame portion arranged with a gap in the width direction, the fan filter unit is arranged at the top of the space between the first frame portion and the second frame portion, and the storage cabinet is arranged so that the opening and closing door faces the space.

3. 3. The bulkhead device for storing incoming items according to claim 1 or 2, wherein casters are provided at the lower end of the frame.

4. A bulkhead device for storing incoming items that is disposed opposite to the front of a safety cabinet installed in a clean room, a storage unit having a bulkhead and one or more storage bins for storing incoming items; a fan filter unit that defines a space defined by the partition wall and the safety cabinet as a clean area and supplies clean air to the clean area at a predetermined flow rate; The storage facility is a partition device for storing incoming items, the partition device having an opening / closing door facing the clean area.

5. The storage unit has a first storage section and a second storage section spaced apart in a width direction, A partition device for storing incoming items as described in claim 4, wherein the fan filter unit is arranged at the top of the space between the first storage section and the second storage section, and the storage cabinet is arranged in each of the first storage section and the second storage section so that the opening and closing door faces the space.

6. A partition device for storing incoming items as described in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the storage unit has a width equal to or greater than the width of the safety cabinet and a height equal to or greater than the height of the upper end of the front opening of the safety cabinet.

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