Whole smoke exposure apparatus

Abstract

An apparatus includes a smoke emitting section which emits smoke containing particulate matter, a dilution section for diluting the smoke emitted by the smoke emitting section, a clean air unit which supplies clean air to the dilution section, at least one chamber which incorporates a cell-adhered surface and into which the smoke diluted by the dilution section is introduced, and an exhaust section for exhausting the smoke from the chamber and the dilution section. A smoke flow in the chamber is shut off to make the smoke settle down in the chamber and expose the cell-adhered surface to the smoke.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus comprising: 
 a smoke emitting section which emits smoke containing particulate matter;    a dilution means for diluting the smoke emitted by the smoke emitting section by adding a gas to the smoke;    an air unit which supplies the gas to said dilution means;    at least one exposure chamber which has a cell-adhered surface therein and into which the smoke diluted by the dilution means is introduced;    a blocking means for shutting off a gas flow so as to seal the chamber after the smoke is introduced into the chamber; and    an exhaust means for exhausting the smoke introduced into the chamber.    
     
     
         2 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the dilution means includes a concentration setting means for arbitrarily setting a concentration of a smoke to be diluted.  
     
     
         3 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a header which is located between the smoke emitting section and the chamber and in which the smoke emitted by the smoke emitting section is temporarily stored before being introduced into the chamber.  
     
     
         4 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 3 , further comprising a three-way connector having one pipe line connected to the header, another pipe line connected to the exhaust means, and still another pipe line open to the atmosphere.  
     
     
         5 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a manifold which is positioned between the smoke emitting section and a plurality of chambers for exposure, and has a piping structure uniformly branched to allow the smoke emitted by the smoke emitting section to be introduced to be supplied to said plurality of chambers for exposure.  
     
     
         6 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a dilution tank which is positioned between the smoke emitting section and a plurality of chambers for exposure to allow smoke diluted by the dilution means to flow into the dilution tank, and has a piping structure uniformly connected to said plurality of chambers for exposure.  
     
     
         7 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the chamber has an inlet for the smoke which is positioned at an upper portion of the chamber, and an outlet for the smoke which is positioned near the cell-adhered surface.  
     
     
         8 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the chamber has a structure which has an inlet and outlet for a culture medium in which the cell-adhered surface is to be immersed, and in which the culture medium inlet and outlet are provided at different positions.  
     
     
         9 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the cell-adhered surface has at least one hole through which the culture medium passes.  
     
     
         10 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 8 , further comprising a thermal insulating means for keeping the culture medium and/or the cell-adhered surface at a constant temperature.  
     
     
         11 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a means for measuring and controlling a pressure in the chamber.  
     
     
         12 . A whole smoke exposure apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising at least one monitor chamber which has a concentration measurement sensor for measuring a concentration of the smoke in the chamber at the time of exposure.