Patent Number: 046879412
Section: summary

The invention relates to a glove box with tubing and/or hose lines for radioactive and/or toxic liquids or gases and with shutoff valves which are inserted into these tubing and/or hose lines and which, respectively, include an actuating member with a drive device and a valve body. Such a glove box is already known and in use. In this heretofore known glove box, not only the tubing and/or hose lines, but also the shutoff valves and the corresponding actuating members as well as the drive devices are arranged in the glove box. The liquids or gases in the tubing or hose lines are not only radioactive or toxic, but also frequently corrosive. Therefore, the drive devices, especially, which are generally electric or pneumatic servomotors, must be protected by special housings of corrosion-resistant material such as alloy steel, in order to prevent these drive devices from being damaged or even destroyed by escaping liquids or gases upon the occurrence of leaks in the tubing or hose lines. Further requirements are electric power supply and acknowledgement lines which lead to the drive devices in the glove box and also extend out of the glove box. These electric lines are not only subject to corrosion, but they also become embrittled under the influence of radioactive radiation and must therefore be constructed as corrosion and radiation-resistant cables with an insulating jacket of special insulating material. Furthermore, the bushings or lead-ins for these cables through the wall of the glove box must be sealed specially. It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a glove box which avoids corrosion-sensitive parts which would otherwise require intensive servicing. With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a glove box with tubular lines for harmful fluids and with shutoff valves inserted in the tubular lines and, respectively, formed of an actuating member and a valve body, comprising an exterior wall forming part of the glove box, the shutoff valves being disposed adjacent one another on the wall, the valve bodies of the shutoff valves being located on the inside of the exterior wall, and the actuating members of the valve bodies being located on the outside of the exterior wall; and drive means for driving the actuating members also located on the outside of the exterior wall and having a device for docking with the respective actuating members, the drive means being guidably displaceable, in a plane parallel to the exterior wall, to the respective actuating members for docking with the respective actuating members. The actuating members of the shutoff valves are brought to the outside through the wall of a glove box. The bushings or lead-ins for these actuating members can be made gas and liquid-tight without difficulty. Drive devices for these shutoff valves need not be located at all inside the glove box. Only a single drive device, for which no special corrosion-resistant housing is required, need be provided on the outside of the wall of the glove box for the drive members of a plurality of shutoff valves. The travel of the drive devices to the actuating member of the individual shutoff valves and the adjustment of these actuating members by this drive device can be controlled by an electronic control device in such a manner that the liquids or gases are distributed in accordance with a defined program to the individual tubing or hose lines in the glove box. If necessary, the actuating members of the shutoff valves can even be adjusted manually without requiring operating personnel to perform any work inside the glove box and without any endangerment from radioactive radiation. The connection of the individual shutoff valves to one another by the tubing or hose lines in the glove box can be effected with especially good visibility if, in accordance with another feature of the invention, the tubular lines include rectilinear main tubes whereon the valve bodies are seated, the main tubes extending spaced from and parallel to one another on the inner surface of the exterior wall. The main tubes may be in the form of feed lines or collecting tubes which are brought, for example, through the wall of the glove box to tanks located outside the glove box. In addition, the main tubes can be constructed as tube plates which are formed with bores and constitute a quite well-defined circulatory loop for the distribution of the liquids or gases flowing through therethrough. The shutoff valves can be assembled close together on these tube plates especially easily. In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the drive means comprise a sensor for detecting the setting of a respective actuating member and for adjusting the setting of the docking device for docking with the actuating member at the respective setting. In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the docking device comprises a sensor for detecting a proper docking of the drive means with the actuating member. In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the fluids are radioactive. In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the fluids are toxic. In accordance with again another feature of the invention, the tubular lines are tubes. In accordance with a concomittant feature of the invention, the tubular lines are hose lines. Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a glove box, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.