JP4094084B2 - Manufacturing method of hollow fiber filter - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for producing a hollow fiber filter used for a blood purifier, for example.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, a hollow fiber filter for purifying blood that permeates and purifies blood includes a bundle of a plurality of hollow fibers (hereinafter referred to as a hollow fiber bundle) 54 in a cylindrical housing 53. The both ends 54a and 54b of the hollow fiber bundle 54 are adhesively fixed (potted) with an adhesive (potting agent) to both ends 53a and 53b of the housing 53 to form the sealing portions 55, respectively. Both end portions 53a and 53b of the housing 53 are covered with caps 56, respectively.
[0003]
Further, in the vicinity of both end portions 53 a and 53 b of the housing 53, a dialysate outlet / inlet port 57 for introducing / extracting dialysate (filtrate) into the housing 53 protrudes, and a cap 56 has blood in the housing 53. A blood outlet / inlet port 58 for introducing and discharging the blood is formed to protrude.
[0004]
Conventionally, the hollow fiber filter 50 is manufactured by rotating one by one around the longitudinal center of the housing 53 in which the hollow fiber bundle 54 is loaded, and using an adhesive in a tank (not shown) provided in the central portion. It is injected into the housing 53 from the dialysate outlet / inlet port 57 via a tube or the like, and this adhesive is moved to the end portions 53 a and 53 b of the housing 53 by utilizing the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the housing 53.
[0005]
Then, the adhesive moved to the end portions 53a and 53b is cured, and the end portions 54a and 54b of the hollow fiber bundle 54 and the housing 53 are bonded and fixed to form the sealing portion 55. Thereafter, the sealing portion 55 is cut to open both end portions 54a and 54b of the hollow fiber bundle 54, and a cap having a blood outlet / inlet port 58 at the end portions 53a and 53b (sealing portion 55 portion) of the housing 53. The hollow fiber filter 50 is manufactured by fitting and fixing 56.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the method of manufacturing the hollow fiber filter 50, if the centrifugal force when rotating the housing 53 is small, the adhesive does not enter between the hollow fibers, and the sealing property between the hollow fibers in the sealing portion 55 portion. May decrease. Therefore, in order to prevent the deterioration of the sealing performance, the centrifugal force may be increased. In this case, however, a mechanism for rotating the housing 53 at a high rotational speed is required. In particular, the length of the hollow fiber bundle 54 is required. In the case where the length is short, a mechanism for giving a higher rotational speed is required, and there is a problem that the manufacturing apparatus itself is large and easily complicated.
[0007]
Further, in order to increase the centrifugal force, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-52522, a plurality of housings are arranged around the rotary shaft of the rotary table and rotated so that the end of the housing is located. A partition wall forming device for forming a partition wall (sealing part) has also been proposed, but even in this device, a clamping mechanism for fixing the housing on the rotating table is required, and the rotating table increases in weight and rotates. There is a problem that the size of the apparatus is unavoidable, such as a complicated mechanism.
[0008]
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the invention according to claim 1 or 2 is to provide a hollow that can obtain a sufficient centrifugal force even at a low rotational speed and can be downsized. It is in providing the manufacturing method of a thread filter.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a cylindrical member having a through hole formed therein, and one end of a pair of housings at the opening portions at both ends of the through hole. with fitted obtaining section, a manufacturing method of a hollow fiber filter using a fixed jig rotating mechanism, from both ends predetermined length protruding state the pair of the hollow fiber bundle is filled, respectively integrated by connecting one end of the housing in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle is fitted to the jig so as to be in series, by rotating the jig via the rotation mechanism, together By rotating the converted housing around the jig and using the centrifugal force, the adhesive injected into each housing is moved to the other end of each housing to be cured, Sealed at the end And forming a.
[0010]
With this configuration, for example, two housings filled with the hollow fiber bundle are connected and integrated in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle by being fitted to a jig, and the length thereof is approximately Doubled. Then, by rotating the jig through the rotation mechanism, the integrated housing is rotated around the jig that is the center in the longitudinal direction. For example, when a predetermined number of rotations is reached, the housing The adhesive is injected into the housing from the dialysate lead-in / out port provided in the housing.
[0011]
This adhesive moves in the direction of the end of each housing on the side opposite to the jig by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the housing, and when this is cured, the end of the hollow fiber bundle and the housing are bonded and fixed, and the sealing portion is fixed. It is formed. Since the two housings are connected in series and the length is almost doubled, the centrifugal force can be increased even with a small number of times, and the manufacturing apparatus can be reduced in size. Even a hollow fiber filter having only an opening can be easily applied.
[0012]
The invention of claim 2, wherein, after forming a sealing portion at an end portion of said housing, each housing fitted an end sealing portion is formed by removing from the jig to the jig Integrating by connecting, rotating the jig through the rotating mechanism, rotating the integrated housing around the jig, and using the centrifugal force injected into the housing The sealing part is formed at both ends of the housing by moving the adhesive to the end part where the sealing part of the housing is not formed and curing.
[0013]
With this configuration, for example, after forming a sealing portion at one end of two housings connected via a jig, the sealing portion is formed by reversing the orientation of the housing by 180 degrees. the end not be integrated by connecting fitted to the jig. Then, in the same manner as in the first aspect of the invention, by forming the sealing portion at the other end of the housing, the sealing portion is formed at both ends of the housing, and the hollow fiber is opened on both sides of the hollow fiber. Applicable to filters.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a half sectional view showing a state in which a housing is integrated with a jig capable of carrying out the manufacturing method according to the present invention. The jig 1 is formed in a cylindrical shape by cutting a hard steel material, for example, and a through hole 2 is formed therein. And the large diameter part 2a is formed in the both ends (opening part) of the through-hole 2, respectively, and it connects by fitting one edge part 3a of a pair of housings 3 to this large diameter part 2a. .
[0015]
The housing 3 is provided with a taper portion 8 having a predetermined length that narrows toward the tip side on the outer peripheral surfaces of both end portions 3a and 3b, and a step portion 9 having a large diameter is formed on the inner surface side of both end portions 3a and 3b. Has been. In addition, through holes 10 that can form dialysate lead-in / out ports are formed inside the tapered portion 8 at both end portions 3a and 3b of the housing 3, respectively.
[0016]
The inner diameter d1 of the large diameter portion 2a of the jig 1 and the outer diameter d3 of the housing 3 are set to be substantially the same so that the housing 3 can be connected to the jig 1 in close contact with each other. The inner diameter d4 of 9 is set slightly larger than the inner diameter d2 of the through hole 2 of the jig 1 so that the both ends 4a and 4b of the hollow fiber bundle 4 can be easily inserted.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a schematic process diagram showing a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber filter using the jig 1. First, a hollow fiber bundle 4 composed of a plurality of hollow fibers is loaded into a pair of housings 3 with both end portions 4a and 4b of the hollow fiber bundle 4 protruding from the both end portions 3a and 3b of the housing 3 by a predetermined length. . As shown in FIG. 2A, the two housings 3 in which the hollow fiber bundles 4 are loaded have one end portion 3a at one end of the through-hole 2 of the jig 1 using a taper portion 8. Fitted to the large diameter portion 2a and integrated, and connected in series in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle 4 (housing 3).
Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the other end of the adhesive supply path 12 having one end connected to the tank 11 is connected to the through hole 10 forming the dialysate outlet / inlet port of each housing 3. . Note that the position of the tank 11 in FIG. 2 is schematically shown, and is disposed at an appropriate position above the rotation center O1 of the jig 1 so as not to hinder the rotation of the jig 1 and the housing 3. Contains a liquid adhesive 13 made of, for example, urethane. In this state, the housing 3 is rotated in the direction of the arrow B around the rotation center O1 of the jig 1 which is the center position in the longitudinal direction of the integrated housing 3.
[0019]
When the rotational speed reaches a predetermined rotational speed, a predetermined amount of adhesive 13 is injected from the tank 11 through the adhesive supply path 12 into each housing 3. The adhesive 13 is moved in the direction of the other end 3b on the side of the counter jig 1 by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of each housing 3, and each hollow fiber of the hollow fiber bundle 4 located in the other end 3b. Respectively, and between the outer peripheral surface of the hollow fiber bundle 4 and the inner surface of the housing 3. When the adhesive 13 is cured, the other end 4a of the hollow fiber bundle 4 and the housing 3 are bonded and fixed, and the other end 3b of each housing 3 is sealed with a sealing portion 5b (see FIG. 2C). Is formed.
[0020]
When the sealing portion 5b is formed at the other end portion 3b of each housing 3, the pair of housings 3 in which the sealing portion 5b is formed is moved from the jig 1 to the arrow rod as shown in FIG. The other end 3b of each housing 3 is re-fitted and connected to the through hole 2 of the jig 1, and the two housings 3 are integrated as shown in FIG. 2 (d). Make it. The integrated housing 3 is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed in the same manner as described above, and the adhesive 13 is injected to form a sealing portion 5a at one end 3a of each housing 3. .
[0021]
Then, after the sealing portions 5a and 5b are formed on both end portions 3a and 3b of each housing 3, as shown in FIG. 2E, the appropriate positions of the sealing portions 5a and 5b are indicated by arrows c. The hollow fiber bundle 4 is cut to form hollow fiber opening surfaces at the end surfaces 4a and 4b. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2 (f), caps 6 a and 6 b having blood outlet / inlet ports are fitted and fixed to both end portions 3 a and 3 b of the housing 3, and a dialysate outlet / inlet port is formed in the through hole 10. By attaching a port member (not shown) to be obtained, a hollow fiber filter as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is manufactured.
[0022]
【Example】
Next, the present invention will be described more specifically in Examples.
[0023]
Example 1
Example 1 uses the housing 3 having the shape shown in FIG. 1 and an overall length L of 140 mm and the jig 1 and urethane as the adhesive 13, and the number of rotations is set to 700 rpm and 20 hollow fibers. When the filter was manufactured, there was no defect such as a seal failure (defective rate = 0%).
[0024]
Comparative Example 1
In Comparative Example 1, when 20 hollow fiber filters were manufactured by rotating one by one under the same conditions as in the above-mentioned Example 1 as shown in the conventional example, there were 10 defects such as defective seals (defect rate = 50%). )Occurred.
[0025]
As is clear from this defect rate, according to the manufacturing method of Example 1, the defect rate is 0%, which can be significantly reduced compared to Comparative Example 1. The centrifugal force f is expressed by f = (l: length of a perpendicular line dropped from the object to the rotation axis) × (m: mass) × (ω: angular velocity around the rotation axis). This is because by connecting the two housings 3 via the jig 1 as described above, the overall length L of the housing 3 can be apparently increased.
[0026]
That is, since the mass m in the above equation is constant with the mass of the adhesive 13, the length l of the perpendicular is longer than the individual length L1 of the housing 3 (see FIG. 1) by connecting two housings 3. As a result, the angular velocity ω (rotational speed) at which the same centrifugal force can be obtained can be reduced.
[0027]
Thus, according to the manufacturing method of the hollow fiber filter of the above-mentioned embodiment, the two housings 3 are connected and integrated through the jig 1, and the rotation center of the jig 1 serving as the center position in the longitudinal direction is obtained. Since the rotation is performed around O1, the number of rotations for obtaining a predetermined centrifugal force can be lowered as compared with the conventional manufacturing method in which the rotation is performed one by one.
[0028]
Further, it is only necessary to fit one end 3a, 3b of the two housings 3 to the large diameter portion 2a of the through hole 2 of the jig 1 by using the tapered portion 8, and a complicated clamp. A mechanism or the like becomes unnecessary, and for example, an increase in the weight of the rotating disk that fixes the jig 1 is prevented. Thus, the rotation mechanism of the housing 3 can be simplified, and the manufacturing apparatus itself can be reduced in size.
[0029]
Furthermore, the setting of the housing 3 to the jig 1 only requires the end portions 3a and 3b of the housing 3 to be fitted into the through holes 2 of the jig 1, so that the setting operation can be easily performed and the jig 3 can be cured. By setting the shape and inner diameter of the through-hole 2 of the tool 1 so as to match well with the shapes and outer diameters of both end portions 3a and 3b of the housing 3, the housing 3 is securely and stably attached to the jig 1. Thus, the workability of the forming operation of the sealing portions 5a and 5b is improved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0030]
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which a housing is connected to a jig according to another embodiment that can be used in the method for manufacturing a hollow fiber filter according to the present invention. The jig 21 is configured so that two housings 3 can be connected in series by two by providing two through holes 22a and 22a orthogonally.
[0031]
Even if a hollow fiber filter is manufactured using this jig 21, the two housings 3 can be connected in series, and the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained. The four housings 3 can be processed by the rotational operation, and an effect that the productivity can be improved approximately twice as compared with the conventional manufacturing method can be obtained.
[0032]
In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where two or four housings 3 are connected to the jig 1 or the jig 21 on a straight line has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Alternatively, for example, an appropriately shaped jig capable of connecting a plurality of housings 3 such as three, five or more linearly by two or two housings at a predetermined angle can be used.
[0033]
Moreover, in the said Example, although the hollow fiber filter which the both ends 4a and 4b of the hollow fiber bundle 4 open was demonstrated, this invention is applicable also to the hollow fiber filter which opens only one side of a hollow fiber. In this case, it is not necessary to invert the housing 3, and the connection to the jig 1 is sufficient.
[0034]
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the hollow fiber filter is used for blood washing has been described. For example, a hollow fiber filter that purifies bacteria from raw water, fruit juice, protein, saccharides, etc. for concentration, purification, and recovery. Of course, it can be used for hollow fiber filters, hollow fiber filters for filtering aqueous solutions and organic liquids, hollow fiber filters for treating industrial waste water, and the like.
[0035]
Moreover, the shape of the housing 3 of the hollow fiber filter for blood purification, the shape of the caps 6a and 6b, the fixing structure to the housing 3 and the like in the above embodiment are also examples, and in the range not departing from the gist of the present invention, It goes without saying that various changes can be made.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described in detail above, according to the first or second aspect of the invention, the pair of housings are fitted into a jig and connected in series, and by rotating around the central portion in the longitudinal direction, A large centrifugal force can be applied to the adhesive injected into the housing, a sufficient centrifugal force can be obtained even if the rotational speed is lowered, and the size of the manufacturing apparatus can be reduced. The effect of.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a half sectional view of a state where a housing is connected to a jig used in a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber filter according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic process diagram of a manufacturing method using the jig. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a hollow fiber filter for blood purification with a housing connected to another jig used in the method of manufacturing a hollow fiber filter according to the present invention. Figure [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Jig 2 Through-hole 2a Large diameter part 3 Housing 3a, 3b End part 4 Hollow fiber bundle 4a, 4b End part 5a, 5b Sealing part 6a, 6b Cap 10 Through-hole 11 Tank 12 Adhesive supply path 13 Adhesive 50 Hollow fiber filter 57 Dialysate outlet / inlet port 58 Blood outlet / inlet port

Claims (2)

It consists of a cylindrical member with a through-hole formed inside, and one end of a pair of housings can be fitted into the opening portions at both ends of the through-hole, and a jig fixed to the rotating mechanism is used. A method for manufacturing a hollow fiber filter, wherein one end of each of the pair of housings, each of which is filled with a hollow fiber bundle in a state of projecting a predetermined length from both ends, is arranged in series in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle. the fit to jig combined and integrated by connecting, by rotating the jig via the rotating mechanism, the integrated housing is rotated around the jig, use the centrifugal force Then, the adhesive injected into each housing is moved to the other end of each housing and cured to form a sealing portion at the end of each housing. Method. After forming the sealing portion to an end of the housing, and integrated by an end sealing portion is formed by removing the respective housing from the jig connecting fitted into the jig, the rotation mechanism By rotating the jig through the center , the integrated housing is rotated around the jig, and the sealing part of the housing forms the adhesive injected into the housing using the centrifugal force. 2. The method for producing a hollow fiber filter according to claim 1, wherein sealing portions are formed at both ends of the housing by moving to an unfinished end and curing.

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