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CN-121988464-A - Centrifuge with inflammable temperature control medium

CN121988464ACN 121988464 ACN121988464 ACN 121988464ACN-121988464-A

Abstract

The application relates to a centrifuge (10) comprising a flammable temperature control medium. The centrifuge has a very simple design and nevertheless provides sufficient protection against ignition of flammable temperature control media in the event of a collision, but also at rest and during operation. For this purpose, a first section (42) of the temperature control medium line (40) is free of connection points (114), which is arranged in the region of a possible electrical or electronic ignition source for the inflammable temperature control medium.

Inventors

  • Alexandra Brisch

Assignees

  • 艾本德欧洲股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20251027
Priority Date
20241107

Claims (16)

  1. 1. A centrifuge (10; 150) comprising: A centrifuge vessel (36; 172) for receiving a centrifuge rotor; a centrifuge motor (38; 174) for driving the centrifuge rotor; A cooling system having an evaporator (94; 176) and a compressor (46; 184) for temperature control of the centrifuge rotor, and A housing (12; 152) in which the centrifuge vessel (36; 172), the centrifuge rotor and the cooling system are accommodated, Wherein the housing (12; 152) comprises a housing base (20; 160), a housing wall (14, 18a,19;154, 158) and a cover plate (24), Wherein the cooling system comprises a flammable refrigerant conveyed in a refrigerant line (42; 178), Wherein a first section (40; 176) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) is arranged in the region of a potential electrical or electronic ignition source, Wherein the second section (52; 192) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) is not arranged in the region of a potential electrical or electronic ignition source, and Wherein the first section (40; 176) does not comprise a connection point.
  2. 2. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 1, Also included in the housing (12; 152) is a dividing wall (30; 166), Wherein the first section (40; 176) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) is arranged on one side of the partition wall (30; 166) and the second section (52; 192) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) is arranged on the opposite side of the partition wall (30; 166), and Wherein the second section (52; 192) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) comprises at least one connection point (98).
  3. 3. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 2, Wherein the dividing wall (30; 166) divides the housing (12; 152) into two chambers (32, 34;168; 170) comprising a first chamber (32; 168) and a second chamber (34; 170), Wherein the first chamber (32; 168) encloses the centrifuge vessel (36; 172) at least in certain areas and the compressor (46; 184) is arranged in the second chamber (34; 170), and/or Wherein the first section (40; 176) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) is arranged in the first chamber (32; 168) and the second section (52; 192) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) is arranged in the second chamber (34; 170).
  4. 4. A centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 3, Wherein the dividing wall (30; 166) provides a fluid-tight separation between the two chambers (32, 34;168, 170).
  5. 5. A centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 3, Wherein the second chamber (34; 170) does not contain any elements (46, 50;184,188, 190) capable of generating an ignition pulse for igniting the combustible refrigerant.
  6. 6. A centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 3, Wherein the first chamber (32; 168) is closed except for a vent opening (60).
  7. 7. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 6, Wherein the first chamber (32; 168) is fluid-tight, and/or Wherein the first chamber (32; 168) can be sealed closed in a fluid-tight manner by the cover plate (24).
  8. 8. A centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 3, Wherein the housing (12; 152) has no perforations for air exchange in the housing bottom (20; 160) in the region of the first section (40; 176) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) and/or in the region of the first chamber (32; 168).
  9. 9. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 2, Also comprises a fluid seal between the partition wall (30; 166) and the housing (12; 152), Wherein the fluid seal completely encloses the partition wall (30; 166), and Wherein the fluid seal is a lip seal (202, 204) or a sealing strip (206).
  10. 10. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 2, Also includes a feedthrough (80, 82) having a fluid seal through the dividing wall (30; 166), Wherein the fluid seal is a rubber gasket (88), and/or a sealing profile (84), and Wherein the feed-throughs (80, 82) are feed-throughs for cables and/or the refrigerant lines (42; 178).
  11. 11. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 2, Further comprising a safety vessel (92) at least partially surrounding the centrifuge vessel (36), Wherein at least a first region (94) of the refrigerant line (42) extends within the safety vessel (92), Wherein a second region (96) of the refrigerant line (42) extends between the safety vessel (92) and the partition wall (30), Wherein the first region (94) of the refrigerant line (42) and/or the second region (96) of the refrigerant line (42) are designed without connection points.
  12. 12. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 11, Wherein the feed-through the safety vessel comprises a fluid seal, Wherein the fluid seal is a rubber gasket and/or sealing profile, and Wherein the feed-through is configured for a cable and/or the refrigerant line (42; 178).
  13. 13. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 2, Wherein the separating wall (30; 166) consists of plastic and/or metal, and/or Wherein the partition wall (166) comprises an insulating foam of insulating material integrally connected to the centrifuge vessel (172), and/or Wherein the partition wall (30; 166) comprises a fluid-tight foil, a plastic plate or a metal plate.
  14. 14. The centrifuge (150) according to claim 2, Wherein the separating wall (166) has a discharge line leading from a connection point of the refrigerant line (178) arranged in the separating wall (166) to the second section (192) of the refrigerant line (178), Wherein the discharge conduit is a pipeline, and Wherein the connection point arranged in the partition wall (166) is surrounded by a fluid-tight jacket, to which the discharge conduit is connected.
  15. 15. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 1, Also comprises perforations (60) for air exchange in the housing wall (18, 18 a) in the region of the first section (40; 176) of the refrigerant line (42; 178), Wherein the perforations (60) are at least 2 cm and/or the distance from the base region (28; 164) of the centrifuge (10; 150) Also comprises at least one perforation (60; 78) for air exchange in the housing wall (18, 18a, 19) in the region of the first section (40; 176) of the refrigerant line (42; 178) and in the region of the second section (52; 192) of the refrigerant line (42; 178), Wherein the at least one perforation (78) is arranged closer to the base region (28; 164) of the centrifuge (10; 150) in the region of the second section (52; 192), Wherein the at least one perforation (60) is preferably arranged at least 1 cm closer to the base region (28; 164) of the centrifuge (10; 150) in the region of the second section (52; 192).
  16. 16. The centrifuge (10; 150) according to claim 1, Wherein the housing (12; 152) comprises a foot (26; 162) for spacing the housing bottom (20; 160) from a base region (28; 164) of the centrifuge (10; 150), Wherein the feet (26; 162) have a height of at least 1 cm, and Wherein the centrifuge is a laboratory centrifuge (10; 150).

Description

Centrifuge with inflammable temperature control medium Cross Reference to Related Applications The benefits of the german patent application DE102024132552.6 filed in month 7 of 2024, 11 are claimed for the present application, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a centrifuge including a flammable temperature control medium. Background Centrifuges, in particular laboratory centrifuges, are used for separating component parts of a sample centrifuged therein using mass inertia. In this method, higher and higher rotational speeds are used to achieve a high de-mixing rate. Laboratory centrifuges are centrifuges with a centrifuge rotor, which preferably run at least 3000 revolutions per minute, preferably at least 10000 revolutions per minute, in particular at least 15000 revolutions per minute, and are usually placed on a table. In order to be able to place them on a table, they have in particular a form factor of less than 1m×1m, which means that their installation space is limited. In this case, the device depth is preferably limited to a maximum of 70 cm. Such centrifuges are used in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, biology, chemistry, etc. The samples to be centrifuged are stored in sample containers and these are driven in rotation by means of a centrifuge rotor. Various types of centrifuge rotors are used, such as a unscrewing rotor and a fixed angle rotor, depending on their intended use. A common feature of most of these centrifuge rotors is that they have a rotor housing with a lower rotor part in which one or more receptacles for sample containers or sample carriers can be arranged, in turn, in which sample containers can be arranged. Further, the lower rotor portion typically has a hub that may be coupled to a drive shaft driven by a centrifuge motor. In this case, the sample containers may contain the sample directly, or the sample containers have their own sample containers inserted therein that contain the sample, meaning that multiple samples may be centrifuged simultaneously in one sample container. It is generally prescribed that the sample is centrifuged at a certain temperature. For example, samples containing proteins and similar organic substances are not allowed to overheat, which means that the upper temperature control limit of these samples is around 40 ℃. On the other hand, some samples were cooled as standard in the +4℃ region (abnormality of water started at 3.98 ℃). Furthermore, such predetermined maximum temperatures are, for example, approximately +40 ℃ and standard test temperatures, for example, 4 ℃, and further standard test temperatures, for example, 11 ℃, are provided in order to check at this temperature whether the refrigeration system of the centrifuge is operating below room temperature in a controlled manner. On the other hand, for reasons of occupational safety, contact with elements having a temperature greater than or equal to 60 ℃ must be prevented. The reference values are specified in DIN EN 61010-1:2011-07, table 19. In principle, active and passive systems can be used for temperature control. Passive systems are based on exhaust-assisted cooling or ventilation. This air is directed directly through the centrifuge rotor and thus also through the sample container contained therein, thereby achieving temperature control. Air is sucked into the centrifuge vessel through the opening and heated air is discharged again through the further opening at another point of the centrifuge vessel, wherein the suction and discharge are effected independently as a result of the rotation of the centrifuge rotor. The active cooling system has a refrigerant circuit that controls the temperature of the centrifuge vessel (centrifuge bowl) to indirectly cool the centrifuge rotor and the sample containers contained therein. For this purpose, the refrigerant circuit has a line section adjacent to the centrifuge vessel, which is wound one or more times around the centrifuge vessel. Many different mediums can be used as the refrigerant or temperature control medium. Since in principle not only cooling, i.e. heat reduction, but also heat increase can be carried out in a targeted manner during centrifugation, the application relates to temperature control and temperature control media. In addition to the temperature control media commonly used in centrifuges, such as chlorodifluoromethane, tetrafluoroethane, pentafluoroethane or difluoromethane and carbon dioxide, and many other media, there are flammable refrigerants, such as butane (R600 a) or propane (R290), or a wide variety of synthetic mixtures. Although these flammable temperature control media have very good heat transfer properties, they have not been used until now for safety reasons, because the temperature control media can escape and ignite in the event of a centrifuge rotor collision. In this collision, the fragments of the centrifuge rotor can