JP2002519167A - Chromatographic column - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A movable adjustable cell assembly 50 is movable in a housing 44 by a chromatographic column 40 supported by a support means including three rotatable ball screw rods 66 connecting them. is there. Each rod 66 is rotatably mounted in a hole 64 so as not to move longitudinally, and a ball screw nut assembly 78 is secured to each rod 66 and to a flange 60 ′ secured to the housing 44. ing. A spur gear 70 is fixed to each rod, and all the spur gears 70 are linked by a ring gear 80. A handwheel is fixed to the rods 66 so that all rods can be rotated simultaneously by the same amount.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a chromatographic column.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is desirable to separate one or more useful components from other components that are often less useful or less useful. To achieve this, it is necessary or desirable to fractionate the fluid mixture to separate useful components. This can be done using a liquid chromatograph. Briefly, liquid chromatography is a method of fractionating components of a mixture based on differences in the physical or chemical properties of the components. Various liquid chromatographic devices fractionate components with a fractionation matrix. Certain liquid chromatographic devices fractionate components based on physical parameters such as molecular weight. Still other liquid chromatographic devices fractionate based on chemical properties such as ionic charge, the presence of certain chemical moieties such as antigenic determinants of components or lectin binding sites. Chromatographic instruments of various dimensions are used for laboratory-scale separation operations and for industrial-scale analysis operations where batch-wise separation processes such as separation of impurities from pharmaceuticals are performed.

A typical known chromatographic apparatus is shown in FIG. 1, in which a column tube 2 for holding a chromatographic medium has a cylindrical housing 4 and one end of the cylindrical housing 4 (the lower end in this example). ), And an adjustable cell assembly 8 provided at the other end (the upper end in this example) of the housing 4.
The upper and lower valve devices 10 and 12 are connecting means to the column pipe 2 from outside. The adjustable cell assembly 8 is movable within the cylindrical housing 4 and is sealable to the housing 4. The cell assembly 8 is held at a predetermined position below the support plate 14 by a plurality of screw rods 16, and the support plate 14 is provided on a flange 18 of the housing 4 between the support plate 14 and the flange 18. It is supported by a plurality of rods 20. Each rod 20 is fixed to the support plate, but its lower end passes through each through hole formed in the flange 18 and is fixed to the flange 18 by a pair of nuts 22 and 24 provided above and below the flange 18. .

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Adjusting the position of the adjustable cell assembly 8 in the housing 4 requires a very time-consuming operation. If the adjustable cell assembly 8 has to be moved upward,
One rod nut 22 must be loosened, for example, by a quarter turn, and then the nut 24 must be tightened by the same amount. This must be repeated until all nut positions on the rods 20 have been adjusted by the same small amount. This adjustment process must be repeated many times to position the adjustable cell assembly 8 at a desired new position.

Similarly, if it is necessary to move the adjustable cell assembly 8 down to compress, for example, the chromatographic media in a column tube, the lower nut 24
Loosen by a factor of one, then tighten upper nut 22 downward to move adjustable cell assembly 8 downward. Once all nuts 22, 24 on rod 20 have been similarly adjusted, the process is repeated until adjustable cell assembly 8 applies a predetermined pressure to the chromatographic media. Thus, adjusting the position of the adjustable cell assembly, especially on an industrial scale column, takes a significant amount of time, resulting in a pause equivalent to the time required to adjust the column, thereby reducing column productivity. Decrease.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a chromatographic column that can be adjusted more easily than a conventional chromatographic column. The present invention also relates to a chromatographic column having a column tube for holding a chromatographic medium partially formed by a housing, and an adjustable cell assembly that relatively enters and exits the housing. Is movable with respect to the housing by a support assembly attached to the housing and having a plurality of adjustable support members, the plurality of adjustable support members being interlocked such that they can be adjusted simultaneously; There is further provided a chromatographic column including drive means for simultaneously adjusting the plurality of adjustable support members.

In an embodiment, each adjustable support member has a rotatable ball screw rod secured to the support on which the adjustable cell assembly is mounted and does not move longitudinally, and the ball screw rod is attached to the rotatable ball screw rod. And a ball nut fixed to the housing. In the embodiment, each rod is fixed to a gear, and each gear is interconnected by a ring gear. In the embodiment, the gear meshes with the outside of the ring gear. In an embodiment, a manual wheel is fixed to one of the rods. In an embodiment, the support assembly has a brake means for preventing the driving means from being adjusted. In an embodiment, the brake means is a non-rotating gear that can move so as to be disengaged from the gear of the one rod.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 2, the chromatographic column 40 includes a column tube 42 partially surrounded by a cylindrical housing 44 in which a fixed cell assembly 48 is screwed in sealing relation to an outwardly extending flange 46 at the lower end. In. An adjustable cell assembly 50 that is movable with respect to the flange 46 of the housing 44 is provided at the upper end of the column tube 42. The housing 44 is mounted on a pair of I-beams 52 in this case. I-shaped beam 52 is provided with an annular collar 5 fixed around housing 44 by bolts 54.
6. An upper valve assembly 60 and a lower valve assembly 58 are connected to the column tube 42. The specific construction of these valve assemblies and associated control members is not an essential part of the present invention. These may be any suitable equipment suitable for the process performed by the chromatographic column 40, and will not be described in detail here.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, housing 44 has an outwardly extending annular flange 60 ′ at its upper end. Adjustable cell assembly 50 is fixed to annular plate 62. Flange 60 'and plate 62 include three circumferentially spaced holes 64 in series.
And each has a respective threaded support rod 66 (one of which is shown in FIGS. 2-3).
(Shown fully in Figure 2). Each rod 66 is rotatably fixed to the annular plate 62 by a flanged bearing 68 and a keyed spur gear 70 so as not to move in the longitudinal direction. A manual wheel 72 is fixed to the upper end of one rod 66, and the rod 66 is rotatable. Each rod 66 is positioned in a hole 64 in the flange 60 'by a holding housing 74 secured to the flange 60' by a lock nut 76. A ball screw nut assembly 78 is located above each rod 66 below the holding housing 74 and is secured to the housing 44 as shown in FIG.

An annular ring gear 80 is rotatably mounted on annular plate 62 inside a two-part annular mount 82. The mount 82 includes a lower ring 84 having an L-shaped cross section and an annular top plate 86. Ring 84 and top plate 86 are secured together by a plurality of bolts 88 to hold ring gear 80 in place. Ring gears 80 mesh with each of the spur gears 70 keyed to respective rods 66. Accordingly, the rods 66 are all constrained to rotate together, so that they can be adjusted simultaneously by manual rotation of the handwheel 72. A non-rotating locking tooth (not shown) is moveable to engage one of the spur gears 70, and when the adjustable cell assembly 50 is moved into position within the housing 44, one rod By preventing rotation of 66, all rods 66 are prevented from rotating. The rod 66 may have a length sufficient to completely retract the adjustable cell assembly 50 from within the portion of the housing 44 used to form the column tube 42, thereby allowing the operator to Completely accessible inside the The diameter of the handwheel 72 is selected to provide the maximum pressure required to provide the desired degree of compression of the chromatographic media.

The support assembly of the embodiment of FIGS. 2-4 provides a small and efficient means for performing simultaneous adjustment of a plurality of adjustable support members (rods 66) for mounting the adjustable cell assembly 50. I do. However, other support structures may be used to practice the invention. The driving means for adjusting the adjustable support member may be an electric motor or the like that automates the adjustment of the position of the adjustable cell assembly 50 to some extent.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a conventional chromatography column.

FIG. 2 is an elevational sectional view of the chromatographic column of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view as seen from line IV in FIG. 3;

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. The adjustable cell set in a chromatographic column comprising: a column tube for holding a chromatographic medium partially formed by a housing; and an adjustable cell assembly that relatively enters and exits the housing. The volume is movable relative to the housing by a support assembly mounted to the housing and having a plurality of adjustable support members, the plurality of adjustable support members being interlocked such that they can be adjusted simultaneously. And a drive means for simultaneously adjusting said plurality of adjustable support members. 2. An adjustable support member comprising: a rotatable ball screw rod fixed to the support to which the adjustable cell assembly is mounted, such that the adjustable screw member does not move longitudinally; The chromatographic column according to claim 1, further comprising a ball nut fixed to the housing. 3. The chromatographic column of claim 2, wherein each rod is fixed to a gear, and each gear is interconnected by a ring gear. 4. The chromatographic column according to claim 3, wherein said gear meshes with a ring gear. 5. The chromatography column according to claim 2, wherein a manual wheel is fixed to one of said rods. 6. The chromatographic column according to claim 1, further comprising brake means for preventing said support assembly from being adjusted by said driving means. 7. The chromatographic column according to claim 6, wherein said brake means is a non-rotating gear that can move so as to be disengaged from said one rod gear.