JPH0242555B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an instrument washer for cleaning medical and laboratory instruments.

(b) Prior Art For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-100159 discloses a fully automatic washing machine in which the time corresponding to each process such as a washing process and a rinsing process is displayed on a display. There are also known dishwashers in which the operating time is set using a mechanical timer or a program timer, and the temperature of the supplied washing water is heated to the set temperature before starting the washing operation. These timers do not operate until the set temperature is reached. Therefore, in these dishwashers, the operating time is extended by the amount of time it takes to heat the washing water, but the user does not know how long this heating time will be, so there is a drawback that the user cannot grasp the actual operating time. .

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention provides an operating time that includes the time required for the temperature of the supplied washing water to reach the set temperature when the temperature of the supplied washing water is lower than the set temperature, and also solves this operating time. is displayed to inform the user of the correct driving time.

(d) Means for solving the problem The solution according to the present invention is a cleaning tank having a means for supplying cleaning water and a heater for heating the cleaning water, and the operating time and cleaning process in the cleaning process in this cleaning tank. A setting switch for setting the water temperature, a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the supplied washing water, a digital display for time, etc., and an operation control means, the control means being set with the detected water temperature. A determination unit that determines that the temperature has not been reached; and a determination unit that calculates an estimated heating time until the set temperature is reached by heating the heater based on the determination result, and adds the set time to this estimated heating time. This configuration includes a calculation unit that calculates the added required time, and a display unit that displays the required time on the digital display and displays subtraction as the process progresses.

(E) Effect The temperature of the supplied cleaning water is detected, compared with the set temperature, and if it is low, the time required for the heater to heat up to the set temperature is calculated, and the set time is added to the estimated heating time. Calculate the total time required for driving by adding . This required time is the operating time of the stroke, and is displayed on the display, during which time, for example, a cleaning pump is activated to execute the stroke.
The user checks the temperature of the wash water and the heating operation of the heater by comparing the set time set by the user with the displayed time.

(F) Embodiment 1 is a main body of an instrument washer for cleaning medical and experimental instruments such as flasks and test tubes, and the front is closed with a door body 2 that can be opened and closed, and a cleaning tank 3 is provided at the bottom. It consists of a washing chamber 4 and a machine room 7 which is arranged from the rear of the washing chamber 4 downward and covered with a rear plate 5 and a bottom plate 6. In the machine room 7, 8 is a washing pump, 9 is a drain pump, and 10 is a washing pump.
11 is an overflow pump, and 11 is a control circuit unit for controlling these.The suction ports of the washing pump 8 and the drain pump 9 are connected to a filter housing recess 12 connected to the lower part of the washing tank 3. Pump 9 and overflow pump 10
The discharge ports are drain pipes 13a, 13b and check valve 14.
The suction port of the overflow pump 10 communicates with an overflow port 15 in the cleaning chamber 4. 16 is a water level switch chamber that detects the specified water level, overflow water level, and low water level of the wash water. Numerals 17 and 18 are water supply pipes and hot water supply pipes for supplying water and hot water into the cleaning chamber 4, and are equipped with a water supply control valve 19 and a hot water supply control valve 20. Furthermore, 21a and 21b are solvent storage boxes which are bypassed from the water supply control valve 19 and the hot water supply control valve 20 and communicated with the cleaning chamber 4, and store detergents, finishing agents, disinfectants, neutralizing agents, and the like.

The control circuit unit 1 is installed on the top of the door body 2.
A control unit 22 is provided for inputting power to the power switch 23.
, a keyboard 24 , and a display board 25 are respectively arranged, and furthermore, the door body 2 has a glass window 26 in the center for checking the inside.

In the cleaning chamber 4, 27 is a filter basket, 28 is a sheathed water heater, 29 is a lower nozzle bearing communicating with the discharge port of the cleaning pump 8,
30 is a pipe 3 connected to the discharge port of the cleaning pump 8.
1, and a lower rotary jet nozzle 32 and an upper rotary jet nozzle 33 are rotatably loosely inserted and supported in these nozzle bearings 29 and 30, respectively. These jet nozzles 32 and 33 are connected to rotating jet holes 3 bored on the side.
The cleaning object is rotated by the cleaning water jetted from the nozzle 4, and the object to be cleaned is cleaned by the cleaning water jetted from the upper jet hole 35 or the lower jet hole 36 formed in the upper or lower surface of the nozzle.

Reference numeral 37 denotes an instrument rack for mounting and holding the objects A to be cleaned, such as medical and experimental instruments such as flasks and test tubes, and a small-diameter rack that is loosely inserted into the objects A from the openings of these objects A. Rod-shaped nozzle pipes 38 are installed upward from a hollow base 39 made of a pipe member, and a wash water socket 40 is provided at the bottom of the central portion of the hollow base 39. The instrument rack 37 is stored in the washing chamber 4 along the rail 41 of the washing chamber 4 so as to be freely accessible. At this time, the washing water socket 40 is located above the lower nozzle bearing 29. It is. Further, 42 is a synthetic resin instrument holder on which the object to be cleaned A is placed.

Reference numeral 43 denotes a water cylinder that is installed in and out of the lower nozzle bearing 29 and supplies cleaning water to the instrument rack 37. It normally enters the lower nozzle bearing 29 and is supplied by the cleaning pump 8 during cleaning and rinsing operations. The pressure of the cleaning water rises and is connected to the cleaning water socket 40 of the instrument rack 37.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1A, the keyboard 24 is composed of key switches, 44 a start/stop switch, 45 a write switch,
46 is a fast forward switch, 47 is a program switch, 48 is a call switch, 49 is "0" ~
Numerical switch consisting of "9", 50 is a selector switch that sets the contents of each step of the program and calls each setting value, time switch 51, temperature switch 52, rinse switch 53, pause switch 54, detergent etc. It consists of detergent 1 and 2 switches 55 and 56 for supplying detergent, a batch/over switch 57 for switching between batch cleaning (rinsing) and overflow cleaning (rinsing), and a drain switch 58. Further, the display board 25 is the first
As shown in Figure B, a 4-digit digital display section 59 displays operating time (two digits on the left), temperature (two digits on the right), etc.
, a rinse count display section 60 consisting of five rotation display lamps 60a to 60e, and an operation status display section 61 consisting of five operation display lamps 61a to 61e.
and a stroke display section 62 consisting of seven stroke display lamps 62a to 62g. By operating this keyboard 24, the number of prewashing steps in the washing step can be set between 0 and 3 times, the number of rinsing steps can be set between 0 and 9 times, and the presence or absence of a pure water rinsing step and a drying step can be arbitrarily set. You can set the operating time in the washing (rinsing) process between 0 and 99 minutes, the washing (rinsing) water temperature between 0 and 99°C, and the washing (rinsing) method in batch washing (rinsing).
You can choose between [washing (rinsing) with washing water stored] or overflow washing (rinsing) [washing (rinsing) with washing water overflowing], and whether or not to add detergent, finishing agent, etc. The operating time in the drying process can be set arbitrarily between 0 and 99 minutes, and the temperature can be arbitrarily set between normal temperature and 120°C.

Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the rotating configuration, where 63 is an alarm device such as an alarm buzzer, and 64 is a setting switch.This switch 64 is used to enable the use of the same printed circuit board for multiple types of models. This is used to switch the circuit capabilities, etc. depending on the model, and is provided on the printed circuit board. Further, 65 is a power supply circuit, 66 is a microcomputer including a central processing unit, a storage unit, and an input/output unit, and 67 is a temperature control unit consisting of a digital-to-analog converter 68, a comparator 69, a resistor 70, and a thermistor 71 for detecting cleaning temperature. Measuring circuit, 72 is an overflow switch, 73 is a specified water level switch, 74
is the low water level switch. 75 is a heater control relay that controls the energization of the heater 28 through its contacts 75a, 76 is a cleaning pump control relay that controls the energization of the cleaning pump 8 through its contacts 76a, and 77 is a valve control relay that controls the water supply through its contacts 77a. It controls the energization of the valve 19 and the hot water supply control valve 20, 78 is a drainage control relay, and its contacts 78a control the energization of the drain pump 9, and 79 is an overflow control relay, whose contacts 79a control the energization of the overflow pump 10. Do this.

The storage section of the microcomputer 66 stores the settings entered into the keyboard 24 from the washing process through the rinsing process to the drying process within the range of the capacity set by the setting changeover switch 64. A series of programs that operate according to the operating time and operating conditions are stored, and among them, the estimated heating time (described later) and required time (described later) are displayed and error corrected based on Figures 5 and 6. explain.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the main parts of the cleaning process and rinsing process of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the cleaning chamber 3
Provide a period for the internal temperature to settle down. During this period, the heater 28 is turned on when the cleaning chamber water temperature is lower than the set temperature.
state. After the predetermined time (1 minute) has elapsed, when it is determined that the cleaning water temperature is lower than the set temperature, the estimated heating time is obtained by estimating the time required to reach the set temperature as shown below. The estimated time and the set time are totaled to obtain the required time, and this required time is displayed on the digital display section 59 of the display board 25 to notify the user of the actual driving time.

The estimated heating time is calculated as follows.
That is, FIG. 7 shows the energization time of the heater 28 and the cleaning tank 3.
The relationship between the temperature of the washing water and the temperature of the washing water is shown. Based on this relationship, the cleaning water temperature and the corresponding heater energization time are blotted for each 1° C. table data, or this relationship is stored in advance in the storage section of the microcomputer 66 as an approximate expression.

The above approximate formula is the washing water temperature T (℃), from 0℃ to T
The boiling time to reach ℃ is t (min), and the coefficients are A and B.
As, t=A・T+B・T ² . By switching these coefficients A and B using the setting changeover switch 64, the same printed circuit board can be used for different types of appliance washers (different cleaning capacities).

As the cleaning process or rinsing process progresses, the required time is subtracted and displayed on the digital display section 59, but as shown in FIG. This causes a difference in the degree of rise in the temperature of the washing water. For example, when heating the water to 70°C, the estimated heating time is about 3 minutes longer than the standard water flow when the water flow is high, and shortened by about 3 minutes when the water flow is low. Therefore, in this embodiment, if the set temperature is reached before the estimated heating time, cleaning or rinsing operation is performed for the set time from the time of reaching the estimated heating time, whereas if the set temperature is not reached at the estimated heating time, the new required time is and display the required time.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of another embodiment which can also be used when the cleaning water temperature does not rise to the set temperature due to heater breakage or the like, a so-called heater failure. As is clear from the figure, the defect determination period is set as (estimated heating time + 10 minutes), and if the cleaning water temperature does not reach the set temperature within this defect determination period, it is determined that the heater is defective and the output is turned off. In addition, a process for activating the alarm 63 is added to FIG.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to display the required operation time in accordance with the temperature of the supplied cleaning water, and in addition to checking the total time, the water temperature and heater operation can be checked by comparing with the set time. It is possible to provide an appliance washer that allows the user to check the operating state and is easy to manage.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings all relate to an embodiment of the utensil washer of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of the main parts, A is a front view of the keyboard, B is a front view of the display board, and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the cleaning state. 3 is a front view, FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit block diagram, FIG. ) A flowchart of the main part of the process, FIG. 7 is a characteristic diagram of cleaning water temperature vs. heater heating time, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the water level switch chamber. 24...Keyboard, 3...Washing tank, 71...
Thermistor, 66...Microcomputer, 2
5...Display board.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A cleaning tank having a means for supplying cleaning water and a heater for heating the cleaning water, a setting switch that sets the operating time and temperature of the cleaning water during the cleaning process in this cleaning tank, and the temperature of the supplied cleaning water. The control means includes a temperature detection means for detecting temperature, a digital display for time, etc., and an operation control means. a calculation unit that calculates an estimated heating time until the set temperature is reached by heating the heater, and calculates a required time obtained by adding the set time to the estimated heating time; A utensil washer characterized by being provided with a display section that displays the required time and also displays subtraction as the process progresses.