JP2015152226A - liquid heating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid heating device which accurately adjusts a temperature of a liquid at low costs compared to a conventional liquid heating device.SOLUTION: A groove 3 spirally extending along an axial direction is formed on an outer peripheral surface 2a of a hollow cylindrical body 2 made of aluminum and incorporating a heater 1 therein. Further, a resin or rubber tube 4, in which a fluid 6 flows, is disposed in the groove 3 and a cover 5 formed by an elastic material covers the body 2 so as to closely contact with the body 2 and the tube 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid heating apparatus, and more particularly to a liquid heating apparatus that can adjust the temperature of a liquid at a lower cost and with higher accuracy than in the past.

  In general, in the examination of body fluids and human tissues, an operation of dropping a small amount of reagent on a large number of samples by an automatic tester or the like is performed, but in order to improve the test accuracy, the temperature of the reagent Need to be adjusted with high accuracy.

  In order to heat a reactive liquid such as the above reagent, a Teflon tube is incorporated between metal grooved drums, and the liquid flowing in the Teflon tube is heated by a sheet heater wound around the outer periphery of the drum. A fluid heating apparatus has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, in the invention of Patent Document 1 described above, since the spiral groove is processed on the inner peripheral surface of the metal outer drum, the manufacturing cost increases, and the heat retention capability of the metal drum is low, so the temperature of the liquid There is a problem that it is difficult to adjust the accuracy with high accuracy.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-78259

  An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid heating apparatus capable of adjusting the temperature of a liquid at a lower cost and with higher accuracy than before.

  The liquid heating device of the present invention that achieves the above object is a liquid heating device that heats a liquid, and spirals along the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of a metal solid cylindrical body containing a heater. And a resin or rubber tube through which the liquid flows is disposed in the groove, and a cover made of an elastic material is attached so as to be in close contact with the main body and the tube. To do.

  According to the liquid heating apparatus of the present invention, difficult processing such as forming a spiral groove on the inner peripheral surface of a metal hollow cylindrical body is not required, and the liquid heated in the tube is more than the metal. Since the temperature is kept by a material having low thermal conductivity, the temperature of the liquid can be adjusted with lower cost and higher accuracy than in the past.

It is an external view of the liquid heating apparatus which consists of embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing along the axial direction of the liquid heating apparatus which consists of embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the groove | channel formed in the outer peripheral surface of a main body. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the use condition of a liquid heating apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a liquid heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This liquid heating device is disposed in a metal solid cylindrical main body 2 containing a heater 1 and a groove 3 that spirally extends along the axial direction formed on the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the main body 2. A resin or rubber tube 4 and a cover 5 made of an elastic material attached so as to be in close contact with and cover the main body 2 and the tube 4 are provided.

  The liquid 6 to be heated is supplied from the inlet 7 of the tube 4 drawn out to one end side of the liquid heating apparatus, heated to a preset target temperature while flowing through the tube 4, and then moved to the other end side. It is discharged from the outlet 8 of the drawn tube 4. Examples of the type of the liquid 6 include reagents used for blood and human tissue examinations.

  As the metal forming the main body 2, a material having high thermal conductivity such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, or copper alloy is used. Further, the shape of the groove 3 formed on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the main body 2 is not particularly limited. However, as shown in FIG. 3, when the cross-sectional shape of the groove 3 is U-shaped or semicircular so that the tube 4 is in close contact with the groove bottom 3a, and the depth of the groove 3 is attached to the cover 5 In addition, it is preferable that a part of the tube 4 protrudes slightly from the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the main body 2 so that the tube 4 is pressed toward the groove bottom 3 a by the elastic force. Note that the pitch between adjacent grooves 3 is appropriately set depending on the size of the main body 2 and the flow rate of the liquid flowing in the tube 4.

  A material excellent in heat resistance and chemical resistance, such as a fluororesin such as Teflon (registered trademark of DuPont), is preferably used for the resin forming the tube 4, and a silicone rubber is preferably used for the rubber.

  As the heater 1, a cartridge heater having a structure in which a heating element in which a nichrome wire is wound around an outer peripheral surface of a ceramic cylinder is housed in a metal pipe is used. The heater 1 is inserted into a heating hole 9 formed along the longitudinal direction at the center of one end surface 2 b of the main body 2. The means for fixing the heater 1 to the heating hole 9 is not particularly limited. However, mechanical means such as caulking, a female screw, or fixing to the main body 2 via a flange provided on the heater 1, or bonding Etc. are exemplified. The insertion length of the heater 1 into the main body 2 is appropriately set depending on the heat capacity of the main body 2, the performance of the heater 1, and the like. Further, a thermal diffusion compound or the like may be interposed between the heater 1 and the heating hole 9 to improve the thermal conductivity.

  The elastic material forming the cover 5 is desirably a material having heat resistance and low thermal conductivity such as a heat-shrinkable tube or a rubber composition made of a flexible material. Specifically, a heat-shrinkable tube made of a flexible material such as polyolefin, fluoropolymer, thermoplastic elastomer or silicone rubber, a rubber composition made of natural rubber and styrene butadiene rubber or silicone rubber, or urethane foam, foam A heat insulating material made of foamed plastic such as polyethylene or expanded polystyrene is desirably used.

  A heat insulating material such as silica, titanium oxide or calcium carbonate or bubbles may be added to the rubber composition. The method of attaching the cover 5 when this rubber composition is used as an elastic material is not particularly limited, but in addition to forming it in a hollow cylindrical shape in advance, it can be covered by molding using a mold. You may make it shape | mold directly on the outer peripheral surface 2a of the main body 2. FIG.

  Moreover, since the heat insulating material made of the above-mentioned foamed plastic is inexpensive but has low heat resistance, the liquid 6 is heated to a relatively low temperature (for example, the target temperature is 40 ° C. or the like) while suppressing the manufacturing cost of the apparatus. It is preferably used in some cases.

  By configuring the liquid heating device in this way, the spiral groove 3 may be processed only in the outer peripheral surface 2a of the metal main body 2, and the liquid 6 heated in the tube 4 is heated more than the metal. Since the temperature is maintained by the cover 5 made of an elastic material having low conductivity, the temperature of the liquid 6 can be adjusted with lower cost and higher accuracy than in the past.

  In addition, the liquid heating device can be stably used by absorbing the deformation of the tube 4 due to the temperature rise of the main body 2 by the cover 5.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a temperature sensor 10 that measures the temperature of the main body 2 is installed on the other end surface 2 c of the main body 2. The temperature sensor 10 uses a resistance temperature detector, a thermocouple, or a thermistor, and is inserted into a temperature measuring hole 11 formed along the longitudinal direction at the center of the end face 2c. The positional relationship between the inlet 7 and outlet 8 of the tube 4 with respect to the main body 2 and the heater 1 and the temperature sensor 10 is not limited to FIGS. The outlet 8 and the heater 1 may be provided on the same side.

  FIG. 4 shows how the liquid heating device is used when the temperature sensor 10 is installed in this way.

  In this usage pattern, a fluid pump 12 that continuously or intermittently delivers the liquid 6 is interposed on the inlet 7 side of the tube 4. The heater 1 is connected to an AC power source 14 via a switch 13. The temperature sensor 10, the fluid pump 12, and the switch 13 are connected to the control means 15 through a signal line (indicated by a one-dot chain line). Examples of the control means 15 include an electronic device having a CPU and a memory. For example, an automatic blood tester (not shown) is connected to the outlet 8 of the tube 4.

  The control means 15 controls the fluid pump 12 and the switch 13 on the basis of a map or the like created in advance by calculation or experiment so that the measured value of the temperature sensor 10 becomes a preset target temperature, The flow rate of the liquid 6 delivered from the fluid pump 12 and / or the electric power supplied to the heater 1 is changed. Usually, the electric power supplied to the heater 1 is controlled while the flow rate of the liquid 6 delivered from the fluid pump 12 is kept constant.

  In this way, the temperature of the liquid 6 can be adjusted with higher accuracy than in the past.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heating heater 2 Main body 3 Groove 4 Tube 5 Cover 6 Liquid 10 Temperature sensor 12 Fluid pump 15 Control means

Claims (4)

A liquid heating apparatus for heating a liquid,
A groove extending in a spiral shape along the axial direction is formed on the outer peripheral surface of a metal solid cylindrical body containing a heater, and a resin or rubber tube through which the liquid flows in the groove. A liquid heating apparatus comprising a cover made of an elastic material so as to be disposed and in close contact with the main body and the tube.   The liquid heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heater is inserted into the main body from one end face of the main body, and a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the main body is installed on the other end face. A fluid pump for delivering the liquid to one end of the tube and a control means for controlling the liquid heating device;
The liquid heating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the fluid pump and / or the heater so that a measured value of the temperature sensor becomes a preset target temperature.   The liquid heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic material is a heat-shrinkable tube made of a material having flexibility, a heat insulating material made of a rubber composition or foamed plastic.

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