Abstract:
A glove box with a sealed containment area delimited at least partially by a wall having a an inner partition facing the sealed containment area, an outer partition spaced from the inner partition and located outside of the containment area, and a lighting means with a light source housed between the inner partition and the outer partition.

Description:
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT PARTIES 
     Not Applicable. 
     MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC 
     Not Applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of glove boxes with lit sealed containments. 
     2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
     From the prior art, a solution consisting of placing one or more light sources inside the containment is known, said solution proving to be very satisfactory in terms of lighting quality obtained. Nevertheless, it is frequently necessary to provide a large lighting device when said device is intended to be housed within the sealed containment, which prevents the use thereof in certain areas of the glove box not having sufficient free space to receive such a lighting device. Moreover, in such a case, the maintenance of the device is extremely difficult, and waste treatment naturally proves to be complex and expensive. 
     From the prior art, a solution consisting of placing one or more light sources outside the containment is known, said solution offering the advantage of offering easy maintenance and only involving a low level of constraints in terms of waste treatment. However, it was observed that when a light source is placed outside the containment, i.e. behind a wall generally incorporating a polycarbonate partition and a biological protection partition spaced therefrom, the quality of the lighting obtained inside the glove box remained mediocre. Indeed, this is particularly explained by the creation of reflections on the polycarbonate partition and on the biological protection partition, thus rendering the lighting particularly ineffective. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to address the abovementioned problems at least partially, the invention proposes a glove box with a sealed containment delimited at least partially by a wall having a polycarbonate partition and a biological protection partition spaced from the polycarbonate partition and arranged externally with respect to same, the glove box also comprising lighting means of the containment, said lighting means comprising a light source housed between the polycarbonate partition and the biological protection partition. 
     With this original solution, it was observed that the lighting quality obtained inside the glove box was substantially identical to that encountered with the solutions according to the prior art wherein the lighting means were located within the sealed containment. This is explained by the fact that the specific arrangement of the light source between the polycarbonate partition and the biological partition limits the reflections of the light on said polycarbonate partition significantly due to the very close proximity between the source and said partition, the reflections of the light on the biological protection partition possibly becoming practically inexistent. 
     In addition, because the light source is placed outside the sealed containment delimited by the polycarbonate partition, preferentially made of Lexan®, maintenance is easy and the treatment of the associated waste proves to be relatively simple and therefore relatively inexpensive. 
     It is specified that the installation of the light source between the polycarbonate partition and the biological protection partition may advantageously be implemented on practically all the walls of the sealed containment, which makes it possible to limit the shaded zones therein significantly, as was particularly the case on some zones of the glove boxes according to the prior art. 
     Finally, as will be detailed below, the lighting means may advantageously be readily produced from simple and relatively inexpensive elements, which renders said means significantly optimized in terms of production cost. 
     Preferentially, the light source is a fluorescent tube, i.e. a low-pressure mercury vapor lamp wherein the greatest proportion of the light is emitted by one or more layers of fluorescent substances excited by the ultraviolet radiation of the discharge. The preferential choice of the fluorescent tube was adopted due to the very good perception of colors provided, without a stroboscopic effect, and the relatively low temperature thereof, these advantages proving to be all the more remarkable when the lighting means comprises an electronic ballast to supply said light source. In this respect, it is specified that the operating temperature of such a tube may advantageously be of the order of that generally encountered with light-emitting diodes. 
     The biological protection partition is preferentially a partition making it possible to reduce gamma radiations and/or neutrons. Preferentially, said biological protection partition is either a glass partition doped with a neutron-absorbing material and/or a dense absorbing material, such as lead glass, or a partition made of methacrylic resin, such as “Kyowaglas-XA®”. 
     It is naturally envisaged that the dimension of a spacing between the polycarbonate partition and the biological protection partition is sufficient so that the light source can be housed in said inter-partition space, said dimension possibly being for example of the order of 40 mm, or less. 
     Preferentially, in order to reduce the reflections of light on the biological protection partition and the polycarbonate partition, the lighting means comprises a light source and a support body that supports and isolates the light source from the biological protection partition. The support body also includes a light diffusion opening that faces the sealed containment area and is sealed by the polycarbonate partition. In this configuration, no reflection of the light advantageously takes place on the biological protection partition as it is entirely isolated from the light source. Also, the close proximity between the light source and the polycarbonate partition generates very little reflection of light on the polycarbonate partition sealing the light diffusion opening of the support body. 
     Moreover, the lighting means preferentially also includes a light deflecting means integral to the support body and located therein, the deflecting means orienting the light emitted by the light source towards the polycarbonate partition. 
     As an indicative example, the support body may be a metallic element having a U-shaped cross-section. Both free ends of the U-shaped cross section are preferentially in contact with the polycarbonate partition. For information purposes, it is noted that the U-shaped cross section is preferentially adopted due to the easy production thereof. 
     Finally, to obtain the most satisfactory heat dissipation possible, the support body is provided in aluminum. Indeed, it was observed that the operating temperature of the lighting could advantageously be maintained less than 50° C., or even less than 40° C. in the case of use of “Kyowaglas-XA®” for the production of the biological protection. 
     Other alternative embodiments and features of the invention will emerge in the non-limitative detailed description hereinafter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       This description will be made with reference to the appended figures wherein; 
         FIG. 1  represents a part of the sectional view of a part of a glove box shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 2  represents a side view of the lighting means fitted in the glove box shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  represents a sectional view taken along the line III-III in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  represents a sectional view along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 5  represents a sectional view of a glove box according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference first of all to  FIG. 5 , it is possible to observe a sectional view of a lit glove box  1  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Said glove box  1  has a sealed containment  2  delimited by a plurality of walls  4 , only one of the plurality of walls  4  will be described hereinafter. However, it is noted that the other walls not described could have an identical or similar design, without leaving the scope of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  represents a part of the sectional view shown in  FIG. 5 . The wall  4  firstly comprises a polycarbonate partition  6 , and more specifically made of Lexan®, the inner face of said partition  6  delimiting the sealed containment  2 . Spaced from said partition  6 , a biological protection partition  8  of the type made of lead glass or “Kyowaglas-XA®” is found, said partition  8  being arranged externally with respect to the partition  6  and spaced therefrom by a spacing  10  of the order of 40 mm, or of a lower value that can be lowered to 25 mm. 
     It is noted that the design described above is known to those skilled in the art, and corresponds to that frequently encountered on existing glove boxes. 
     One of the specific features of the present invention lies in the design and positioning of lighting means  12  of the sealed containment  2 . The lighting means  12  is shown partially and schematically in  FIG. 1  and has the specificity of being a light source housed in the inter-partition space  16  defined between the partitions  6  and  8 . More specifically, the entire lighting module  14  of the lighting means  12  is housed in the inter-partition space  16 , said lighting module  14  being detailed in  FIGS. 2 to 4 , which will now be described. 
     Indeed, the lighting means  12  includes the lighting module  14  and an electronic ballast  18  which supplies electricity to the light source  20  of the lighting module  14 , via suitable wiring  22 . In this respect, it is specified that the ballast  18  is in turn connected via wiring  24  to a power source (not shown). 
     Therefore, the lighting module  14  comprises the light source  20  preferentially taking the form of a fluorescent tube, having a length of up to 1 m and having a diameter preferentially between 5 and 20 mm, for example 16 mm. 
     In order to carry out the installation of the light source  20  in the inter-partition space  16 , the lighting module  14  comprises a support body  28  preferentially having a U-shaped cross-section, and a length slightly greater than that of the light source  20  placed therein, as can be seen in  FIGS. 2 to 4 . 
     More specifically, the support body  28  has a thickness substantially identical to the spacing  10 , i.e. the height of the two arms  30  of the U-shaped support body  28  is substantially equal to said spacing  10  between the two partitions  6  and  8 . Therefore, by being inserted between said two partitions  6  and  8 , the support body  28  may have the two free ends of the arms  30  of the U-shaped cross section in contact with the polycarbonate partition  6 , which makes it possible to isolate the light source  20  entirely from the biological protection partition  8 . In other words, the light diffusion opening  32  defined between the two arms  30  of the support body  28  preferentially made of aluminum and having a thickness between 2 and 4 mm, is sealed by the polycarbonate partition  6  whereon the light emitted by the light source  20  is practically not reflected. As such, it is noted that the minimum distance  34  between the light source  20  and the partition  6  is fixed so as to be preferentially less than 10 mm, or less than 5 mm. 
     Moreover, it is specified that while the support body  28  of the module  14  is intended to be introduced in a manner inserted between the two partitions  6 ,  8  by only providing for an assembly play between said elements, additional means may nevertheless be provided to ensure rigid attachment of said support body  28  on said partitions  6 ,  8 . Preferentially, attachment tabs prevent any movement of the lighting system in the event of opening of the biological protection, for example for the verification that contamination is not present. 
     As can be seen most clearly in  FIG. 2 , the ends of the U-shaped support body  28  are sealed by end fittings  36 , implying that the only opening through which light can be emitted is the opening  32  mentioned above, extending substantially over the entire length of said body  28 . 
     In addition,  FIG. 4  shows that the light source  20  is mounted on the support body  28  by means of support members  38  (only one being visible) wherein one end enables the snap fastening of the light source  20 , and wherein the other end is mounted in a fixed manner on the base of the U-shaped support body  28 , for example by means of screwing. Naturally, the support members  38  are spaced from each other in the direction of the light source  20  supported by same. 
     Finally, it is specified that, to direct the light emitted by the light source  20  in the direction of the diffusion opening  32 , and therefore towards the partition  6 , deflecting means  40  are also mounted in a fixed manner on the base of the U-shaped support body  28 , said deflecting means  40  also being located in the space defined between the two arms  30  of the U-shaped support body  28  preferentially taking the form of a steel sheet with mirror type polishing, edged so as to have an opening (not referenced) oriented towards the diffusion opening  32 , and therefore towards the polycarbonate partition  6 . 
     Obviously, various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art to the invention described above, only as non-limitative examples.