Block Valve and Simulated Moving Bed Type Chromatographic Separation Apparatus Having the Same Valve

A block valve comprising:

• a block portion having fluid channels for a fluid formed in the block portion;
• and
• a plurality of valve members permitting or cutting off communications of the fluid channels formed in the block portion,
• the block portion comprising:
• a trunk fluid channel penetrating the block portion;
• and
• plural couples of branch fluid channels branching off by twos from each of two or more points of the trunk fluid channel in an extending direction of the trunk fluid channel and establishing communications between the trunk fluid channel and the outside of the block portion,
• the valve member comprising:
• a valve element provided corresponding to each of the branch fluid channels and moving forward to and backward from the trunk fluid channel in order to cut off or permit the communication of the branch fluid channel;
• and
• a drive unit for moving the valve element forward to and backward from the trunk fluid channel,
• wherein the branch fluid channel is comprised of a bifurcating fluid channel bifurcating from the trunk fluid channel, a valve cylinder connected to the bifurcating fluid channel, having a sectional area larger than that of the bifurcating fluid channel and housing the valve element, a valve seat, formed between the bifurcating fluid channel and the valve cylinder, to and from which the valve element gets closely fitted and separated away, and a communicating fluid channel holed in the valve seat and establishing a communication between the valve cylinder and the outside of the block portion,
• a radius of the valve cylinder is larger than a sum of a radius of the trunk fluid channel and a diameter of the communicating fluid channel,
• an angle θ is equal to or larger than 90° but equal to or smaller than 180°, where θ is the angle made by a couple of the bifurcating fluid channels when viewed in the extending direction of the trunk fluid channel,
• when the angle θ is 180°, the communicating fluid channels in the couple of the branch fluid channels are fluid channels holed in the valve seats in face-to-face positions, with the couple of the bifurcating fluid channels being interposed therebetween, and formed in a shape enabling the communication with the outside of the block portion,
• when the angle θ is equal to or larger than 90° but smaller than 180°, the communicating fluid channels in the couple of the branch fluid channels are fluid channels holed in the valve seats in positions opposite to the side on which to make the angle θ, and formed in a shape enabling the communication with the outside of the block portion, and
• couples of the branch fluid channels neighboring to each other in the extending direction of the trunk fluid channel are formed in a shape disabling the extending directions of the bifurcating fluid channels to be overlapped with each other when viewed in the extending direction of the trunk fluid channel, and are also formed in a shape disabling, when providing the valve members, the valve members to be overlapped with each other in the extending direction of the trunk fluid channel.