US-12618039-B2 - Incubator

US12618039B2US 12618039 B2US12618039 B2US 12618039B2US-12618039-B2

Abstract

An incubator includes: a housing which is divided into a thermostatic chamber and an air-conditioning chamber and allows first air to circulate between the thermostatic chamber and the air-conditioning chamber; and an air conditioner that regulates a temperature of the first air in the air-conditioning chamber. A channel through which the first air flows is formed in the air-conditioning chamber. The air conditioner includes: a supply unit having a supply port for supplying second air colder than the first air to the channel; an upstream fan which is arranged upstream of the supply port and allows the first air in the thermostatic chamber to flow into the channel; and a downstream fan which is arranged downstream of the supply port, mixes the second air with the first air, and allows the first air mixed with the second air to flow from the channel into the thermostatic chamber.

Inventors

Koichi Abe
Hiroshi YATA
Kenji Ashida
Yusuke Ueda

Assignees

ESPEC CORP.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220426
Priority Date: 20210427

Claims (10)

1 . An incubator, comprising: a housing which is divided into a thermostatic chamber and an air-conditioning chamber and allows first air to circulate between the thermostatic chamber and the air-conditioning chamber; and an air conditioner that regulates a temperature of the first air in the air-conditioning chamber, wherein a channel through which the first air flows is formed in the air-conditioning chamber, the air conditioner includes: a supply unit having a supply port for supplying second air colder than the first air to the channel; an upstream fan which is arranged upstream of the supply port in a flow direction in the channel and allows the first air in the thermostatic chamber to flow into the channel; and a downstream fan which is arranged downstream of the supply port in the flow direction, mixes the second air with the first air, and allows the first air mixed with the second air to flow from the channel into the thermostatic chamber, a width direction of the channel is orthogonal to the flow direction in the channel, the supply unit includes a plurality of ducts each extending in the channel in the width direction of the channel, allowing the second air to flow through and having the supply port, and the supply ports of the plurality of ducts are arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel.
2 . The incubator of claim 1 , wherein the upstream fan includes a plurality of upstream fans arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel.
3 . The incubator of claim 1 or 2 , wherein the downstream fan includes a plurality of downstream fans arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel.
4 . The incubator of claim 1 or 2 , further comprising: an exhaust fan that discharges the first air out of the housing.
5 . The incubator of claim 1 or 2 , wherein the housing is placed and used in a room in which a temperature of air is regulated, and the supply unit supplies the air in the room as the second air to the channel.
6 . The incubator of claim 5 , wherein the supply unit further includes an intake fan that supplies the air in the room to the channel.
7 . The incubator of claim 5 , wherein the room is a clean room.
8 . An incubator, comprising: a housing which is divided into a thermostatic chamber and an air-conditioning chamber and allows first air to circulate between the thermostatic chamber and the air-conditioning chamber; and an air conditioner that regulates a temperature of the first air in the air-conditioning chamber, wherein the housing is placed and used in a room filled with second air colder than the first air, a channel through which the first air flows is formed in the air-conditioning chamber, the air conditioner includes: a supply unit having a supply port for supplying the second air in the room to the channel; and a fan which is arranged in the channel and allows the first air to circulate between the channel and the thermostatic chamber, the air conditioner mixes the second air with the first air and allows the first air mixed with the second air to flow from the channel into the thermostatic chamber, a width direction of the channel is orthogonal to the flow direction in the channel, the supply unit includes a plurality of ducts each extending in the channel in the width direction of the channel, allowing the second air to flow through and having the supply port, and the supply ports of the plurality of ducts are arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel.
9 . The incubator of claim 1 or 2 , wherein the air conditioner further includes a heater which is arranged downstream of the supply port in the flow direction in the channel and heats the first air.
10 . The incubator of claim 9 , wherein the heater is arranged downstream of the downstream fan in the flow direction in the channel.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application 2021-074677 filed on Apr. 27, 2021. The disclosures of the application including the specifications, the drawings, and the claims are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. FIELD The present disclosure relates to an incubator. BACKGROUND An incubator used for cell culture and other processes has been known. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-110033 discloses an incubator including a thermostatic chamber (cultivation chamber) and an air-conditioning chamber. The incubator circulates air cooled or heated in the air-conditioning chamber between the thermostatic chamber and the air-conditioning chamber to control the temperature of the thermostatic chamber to a set temperature. SUMMARY Uniform temperature distribution is one of important factors for the thermostatic chamber of the incubator. The incubator of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-110033 still has room for improvement in the uniform temperature distribution. In view of the foregoing background, the present disclosure has been achieved to make the temperature distribution in the thermostatic chamber uniform. The present disclosure is directed to an incubator including: a housing which is divided into a thermostatic chamber and an air-conditioning chamber and allows first air to circulate between the thermostatic chamber and the air-conditioning chamber; and an air conditioner that regulates a temperature of the first air in the air-conditioning chamber. A channel through which the first air flows is formed in the air-conditioning chamber. The air conditioner includes: a supply unit having a supply port for supplying second air colder than the first air to the channel; an upstream fan which is arranged upstream of the supply port and allows the first air in the thermostatic chamber to flow into the channel; and a downstream fan which is arranged downstream of the supply port, mixes the second air with the first air, and allows the first air mixed with the second air to flow from the channel into the thermostatic chamber. In this configuration, the second air is supplied by the supply unit to the channel of the air-conditioning chamber, and the first air flowing through the channel is cooled to a desired temperature when mixed with the second air. The downstream fan allows the first air regulated to the desired temperature to flow from the air-conditioning chamber into the thermostatic chamber, and the upstream fan allows the first air in the thermostatic chamber to flow into the channel of the air-conditioning chamber. Thus, the thermostatic chamber is controlled to the desired temperature. The supply port is arranged between the upstream fan and the downstream fan. Thus, the upstream fan forces the first air into the second air supplied from the supply port. This accelerates the mixing of the first air and the second air. Further, the downstream fan sucks the first air mixed with the second air. The suction by the downstream fan agitates the first air to further accelerates the mixing of the first air and the second air. This makes the temperature of the first air uniform. Supply of the first air with the uniform temperature to the thermostatic chamber can make the temperature distribution in the thermostatic chamber uniform. A width direction of the channel may be orthogonal to a flow direction in the channel. The supply unit may include a plurality of ducts each allowing the second air to flow through and having the supply port. The supply ports of the plurality of ducts may be arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel. For example, if the second air is supplied through a single duct having a supply port, the flow rate of the second air supplied through the supply port may vary. This makes it difficult to supply the second air evenly in the width direction of the channel, resulting in uneven mixing ratio between the first air and the second air. In the above-described configuration, in contrast, the supply unit includes the plurality of ducts each allowing the second air to flow through and having the supply port. The supply ports of the plurality of ducts are arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel Thus, the second air can be supplied at a suitable flow rate to the supply ports through the ducts. The supply ports arranged side by side in the width direction can supply the second air evenly in the width direction of the channel. This makes the mixing ratio between the first air and the second air uniform in the width direction, and thus, makes the temperature distribution of the first air mixed with the second air uniform in the width direction. The upstream fan may include a plurality of upstream fans arranged at different positions in the width direction in the channel. In this configuration, the plurality of upstream fans are arranged,