Patent Elmont s.r.l.

According to current legislation (EN12469), vertical laminar flow hoods must operate with stringent parameters to protect the operator, the product and the environment from the risk of contamination by pathogens by creating a sterile work area in ISO class (clean room) and expel a part of the treated air after controlled filtration by absolute HEPA filters.

The electronics manage every part of the operation of the device and on the external display of the machine you can see the general status in real time and any fault or incorrect operation alarms in progress.

The display of the hoods of various international manufacturers is positioned outside the work area, on the control panel which is generally located above the operator's head, making it impossible for him to see the status of the equipment in real time or to quickly press the external controls without having to remove contaminated hands and gloves from inside the work area with a high risk of spreading dangerous molecules in the laboratory.

The hoods have, among other things, an emergency button on the control panel, which, if pressed, allows the increase of air in the front barrier: however, it becomes very useful for the safety of the operator and the laboratory in which he is located if this command is placed inside on a touch screen display in the work area. This and all other useful commands must be able to be used by the operator without the risk of contaminating the external environment.

Hence the project to duplicate the external display with a new internal monitor, non-invasive in compliance with the relevant regulations, positioned on the rear or side panel built-in with a display flush with the sheet metal, easily readable and usable at any time by the technician working inside the machine.

In real time, the operator can conveniently check the status of the equipment and, in the event of an alarm for a fault or anomaly.

The various wordings are in the language chosen by the company receiving and using the machine.

With the help of the touch screen, the operator in the event of a fault, unexpected event or emergency can press the emergency button, activating the maximum power of the fans directly under the hood, without removing the gloves contaminated by the equipment.

It will also be possible to be facilitated in his work, by controlling the hood from inside to the advantage of operation, he will be able to read the display at any time, thus monitoring in real time the absence of alarms or anomalies.

The internal display, in the event of non-limiting anomalies and in the event of a serious fault, immediately warns the operator with written information: in yellow for anomaly and red accompanied by a buzzer for binding fault.

The remote technical assistance service includes the possibility of obtaining on a remote PC the same images read by the operator on the touch screen display in the hood, and other technical information not visible to the operator but useful to a technician to identify a fault or an alarm in progress and give instructions to the technician on site or to the hood operator to restore from an anomaly, for maintenance or software repair from a distance with significant savings of time and money for the user company.

To be able to reach the board on the INTERNET remotely, the customer simply needs to have a wi-fi network or connect the hood to the wired LAN network via cable.

The Elmont s.r.l. operator technician from the technical office on site can, upon request of the customer, connect from his PC and scan the real-time situation of the equipment by reading all the key points of the electronic board, as if it were a black box containing all the information useful for evaluating the current situation and the various alarms stored over time by the software.

Based on the data it is possible to diagnose the problem and often repair software problems; or the machine can be checked at regular intervals through a contract between the parties; or even report the situation to the local technician and be able to quickly send the appropriate spare parts when necessary, saving resources. The system also automatically sends emails to a configurable mailbox for each "red" alarm that should go off, in order to warn the person in charge of the fault and/or a remote technician, and intervene promptly.

This patent signed by Elmont s.r.l. was therefore designed to make the work of operators safer and to be able to guarantee immediate technical assistance, saving time and guaranteeing an efficient and effective service.

On the Bio Activa PLUS, Bio Activa One with LCD display, Bio Activa VE, Cyto Activa and Cyto Activa VE hoods it is also possible to obtain a tax relief in a 20% tax credit through the "tax credit for capital goods 4.0" - L.11 December 2016 no 232, on