Laboratory apparatus with a control device

• US 8,009,139 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2006
• Issued: 08/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eppendorf Se
• Original Assignee: Eppendorf AG
• Inventors: Kleindienst, Roland, Muller, Heiko, Lurz, Werner, Meyer, Wolfram
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao; Lun-Yi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Suteerawongsa; Jarurat
• Application Number:
  US11/600,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20070132723A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,748 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-158, 345168-169, 345/173, 345/184, 340679-680, 399/100, 700/17, 700/180, 701/33, 307/112, 307139-140, 200/5.A, 200/5.R, 200/11.R, 200/11.TW, 200/564, 463 37- 38
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/027 Digital display, e.g. LCD, LED
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: B04B 7/02 Casings; Lids shock absorbers, vibration dampers F16F
• CPC Class Codes: B04B 7/06 Safety devices ; Regulating
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 35/00871 Communications between instruments or with remote terminals

Abstract

A laboratory apparatus having at least one control device (4) comprising an electric printed-circuit board (15) of the control device (4) that is disposed on an instrument body (2) of the laboratory apparatus (1) and has at least one electric control element (16, 18), at least one operator interface (6) of the control device (4) including at least one operator control (11, 33); a retaining device (29, 30) for detachably holding the operator interface (6) on the instrument body (2) with the operator control (11, 33) oriented to the control element (16, 18), and a mechanical and/or magnetic connection for detachably joining the control element (16, 18) mechanically and/or magnetically to the operator control (11, 33).

Claims

1. A laboratory apparatus having at least one control device disposed on an instrument body of the laboratory apparatus, the at least one control device comprising:

an electric printed circuit board with at least two control elements, one of the control elements being a push-button switch and one of the control elements being an angle encoder;

a first operator interface and a second operator interface different from the first operator interface, wherein the second operator interface is interchangeable with the first operator interface, wherein each operator interface includes at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of touch-sensitive membrane keys, press keys and rotary knobs;

a retaining device for detachably holding either one of the first and second operator interfaces on the instrument body with the at least one operator control of the operator interface oriented to one of the control elements of the electric printed circuit board; and

a mechanical and/or magnetic connection for detachably joining at least one of the control elements to the operator control.

2. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an electric connection between the control device and the instrument body for releasably joining the control device to the instrument body.

3. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the operator interfaces is a substantially flat interface with at least one press key.

4. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1, wherein all of the operator controls of the control device are touch-sensitive membrane keys.

5. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of the operator interfaces has at least one flexible interfacial element which, when the operator interface is held on the instrument body, has an inside abutted directly, or via an adapter button indirectly, to the front face of a push-button switch disposed on the electric printed circuit board.

6. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 5 wherein one of the operator interfaces comprises a rigid bottom portion with at least one hole partially accommodating the front face of the push-button switch or the adapter button;

and a membrane disposed at an outside of the rigid bottom portion.

7. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 6 wherein at least one adapter button plunges into a hole of the rigid bottom portion and into a hole of a perforated mask and has a circumferentially-sided protrusion which is arranged to be axially arranged between the rigid bottom portion and at least one perforated mask attached to the rigid bottom portion.

8. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1, wherein all of the control elements of the first operator interface are touch-sensitive memory keys and the second operator interface has at least one operator control that is a rotary knob and at least one of the control elements is an angle encoder;

wherein an axis of rotation is joined to the rotary knob penetrates through the operator interface, the angle encoder is joined to the axis of rotation and disposed on the electric printed circuit board, and the rotary knob is rotatably connected to the angle encoder.

9. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the axis of rotation penetrates through a hole of at least one perforated mask attached to a rigid bottom portion of the operator interface, and the axis of rotation has an annular disk disposed between the rigid bottom portion and the at least one perforated mask (34).

10. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the axis of rotation has a snap-fit connection fixed for rotation with the angle encoder.

11. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a display of a display device is visible in a window of the control device.

12. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the electric printed-circuit board carries a display device and one of the operator interfaces has the window.

13. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the control device has a casing bottom portion disposed on the instrument body in which the electric printed circuit board is held and which has the retaining device for detachably holding the operator interface on the casing bottom portion.

14. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 13 wherein a pivoting holder for pivotably holding the casing bottom portion on the instrument body exists between the casing bottom portion and instrument body.

15. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 14 wherein a detenting device for the casing bottom portion in different pivoting positions with respect to the instrument body exists between the casing bottom portion and instrument body.

16. A laboratory apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one operator control of the first operator interface comprises at least a pair of keys, wherein one key serves to increase a setting and the other key serves to decrease the same setting, and the at least one operator control of the second operator interface comprises a rotary knob for adjustment of the same setting.

17. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 16 wherein the rotary knob or an axis connected thereto at least partially penetrates through a hole in an operator interface, and a stopper adapted to be forced into the hole when the rotary knob is detached from the angle encoder (18).

18. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1 which has a locking device which prevents the operator interface or control device or rotary knob from becoming loose when a centrifuge is turned on or a certain centrifuge function is activated.

19. The laboratory apparatus according to claim 1 which is a laboratory centrifuge or sample preparation apparatus.