JP2000084389A - Blood collecting tube stirring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a blood collecting vessel stirring device capable of tipping over a blood collecting vessel to mix successively and rapidly after collecting blood, remarkably shortening the time from the blood collection to the confirmation of inspection result and easily setting and detaching the blood collecting vessel. SOLUTION: This blood collecting vessel stirring device 1 is provided with a turntable 9 connected to a motor as a rotation driving source, plural blood collecting vessel holders 10 provided along the peripheral direction of the turntable 9 and rotatably connected to the turn table 9, a fixed gear concentrically arranged with the turn table 9 and connected to the turntable 9 and a rotational gear connected to the blood collecting vessel holder 10 to rotate together with the blood collecting vessel 10 and structured to be engaged with the fixed gear to move along the outer circumference of the fixed gear, and the blood collecting vessel 11 held by the blood collecting vessel holder 10 is tipped over to mix by rotating the blood collecting vessel holder 10 with the rotation of the rotational gear.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for stirring a sample in a blood collection tube in a clinical test or the like, and more particularly, to a blood collection tube stirring apparatus for stirring a blood sample by inversion mixing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a hospital or a clinical laboratory, after blood is collected in a blood collection tube, the blood sample in the blood collection tube is agitated by inversion and mixing. For example, in the case of a serum test, blood is separated into serum and a clot by centrifugation, but if the blood sample is not sufficiently stirred prior to centrifugation, fibrin precipitates due to insufficient stirring, and partial Coagulation occurs. As a result, even if centrifuged,
Fibrin is mixed in serum, and accurate test results cannot be obtained.

Therefore, it is necessary to sufficiently stir a blood sample collected in a blood collection tube. In order to avoid such partial coagulation, it is not enough to rotate the tip side of the blood collection tube, that is, just turn it.The method of inverting and mixing the closed blood collection tube upside down is repeated. It is necessary to use. However, in hospitals and the like, the task of manually inverting and mixing a large number of blood collection tubes is very complicated, and a heavy burden is imposed on the operator.

[0004] In view of the above, various overturning mixing devices capable of inverting and mixing many blood collection tubes at once have been proposed. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a conventional overturning mixing apparatus.

[0005] The overturning mixing apparatus 51 includes a rotating body 52 connected to a rotary drive source such as a motor. The rotating body 52 is configured to be able to rotate about a rotating shaft 53. A plurality of blood collection tube holders 54 are fixed to the front surface 52a of the rotating body 52.

Each of the blood collection tube holders 54 is formed of a metal plate or the like, and has a pair of holding pieces 55 having a spring property.
a and 55b. The holding pieces 55a and 55b have cylindrical curved surfaces corresponding to the outer peripheral curved surface of the blood collection tube 56. The interval between the cylindrical curved surface portions of the pair of holding pieces 55a, 55b is
It is smaller than the outer diameter of the blood collection tube 56. Blood collection tube 56
Is set, the blood collection tube 5 is placed between the holding pieces 55a, 55b against the urging force of the holding pieces 55a, 55b toward the other side.
Insert 6. As a result, the blood collection tube 56 is held between the holding pieces 55a and 55b by the urging force of the holding pieces 55a and 55b approaching each other.

[0007] As described above, the blood collection tube 56 is held so that the axial direction thereof is substantially aligned with the radial direction of the rotating body 52. Therefore, by rotating the rotating body 52, the blood sample in the blood collection tube 56 is removed. It is mixed upside down.

[0008]

In the above-described overturning mixing apparatus 51, the blood collection tube 56 is elastically held between the holding pieces 55a and 55b. Therefore, before rotating the rotating body 52, the plurality of blood collection tube holders 5 provided are required.
The blood collection tube 56 is set in each of the positions 5 and the rotating body 52 is rotated. After the mixing, the rotating body 52 is stopped, and the blood collection tubes 56 are removed from the blood collection tube holders 55.

Therefore, after setting the blood collection tube 56 in almost all of the plurality of blood collection tube holders 55 and stopping the rotation of the rotating body 52, the set blood collection tube 56 must be removed at a time.

On the other hand, at the blood collection site, blood collection tubes 56 from which blood has been collected are sequentially supplied. However, in the inversion mixing apparatus 51 as described above, since the processing is performed in a batch manner,
The blood collection tubes 56 must be stored in accordance with the number of blood collection tube holders 55 provided in the overturning mixing device 51, and must be overturned and mixed. Therefore, the supplied blood collection tubes cannot be sequentially inverted and mixed, and it takes a long time from the blood collection to the completion of the inverted mixing.

Each blood collection tube 56 is placed in a blood collection tube holder 55.
The work itself of setting and removing was complicated. That is, when it is necessary to mix a large number of blood collection tubes by overturning, the work of setting the blood collection tubes 56 between the pair of holding pieces 55a and 55b of the blood collection tube holder 55, and removing after rotation,
This placed a heavy burden on inspection workers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional blood collection tube agitating device, to enable the blood collection blood tubes to be sequentially and quickly mixed by inversion, thereby greatly shortening the time from blood collection to the determination of test results. An object of the present invention is to provide a blood collection tube stirring device that can be shortened and can easily set and remove a blood collection tube.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for stirring a sample in a blood collection tube by inverting mixing, wherein the apparatus is connected to a rotary drive source and the rotary drive source, and is provided with a rotary drive. A turntable rotated by receiving a driving force from a source, a plurality of blood collection tube holders provided along a circumferential direction of the turntable and rotatably connected to the turntable; and A fixed gear that is concentrically connected to the turntable and fixed so as not to rotate, and a fixed gear that is connected to the blood collection tube holder so as to rotate with the blood collection tube holder, and meshes with the fixed gear. And a rotating gear configured to move along the outer periphery of the rotating gear.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the blood collection tube holder has an opening into which a blood collection tube is inserted at one end, and a cylindrical holder body having a through hole on a side surface, and is inserted into the through hole. A blood collection tube holding pin; and a biasing means provided in association with the blood collection tube holding pin to urge the blood collection tube holding pin into the blood collection tube holder.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the blood collection tube holding pin is brought into contact with the blood collection tube holding pin at the blood collection tube removing position so as to move the blood collection tube holding pin away from the blood collection tube against the urging force of the urging means. The blood collection tube holding release member is further provided.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, the initial position of the blood collection tube holder and the number of teeth of the fixed gear and the rotating gear are set such that the opening of the blood collection tube holder faces downward at the blood collection tube removal position. .

(Operation) In the blood collection tube stirring device according to the present invention, the turntable is rotated by a rotary drive source, and a plurality of blood collection tube holders are provided along the circumferential direction of the turntable. Therefore, with the rotation of the turntable, the blood collection tube holder is moved along the circumferential direction of the turntable.

The blood collection tube holder is rotatably connected to the turntable. On the other hand, the fixed gear is connected to the turntable, but is configured not to rotate itself. A rotating gear is provided so as to mesh with the fixed gear and move along the outer periphery of the fixed gear, and the rotating gear is connected to the rotating holder so as to rotate together with the blood collection tube holder.
Therefore, when the turntable is rotated, the blood collection tube holder and the rotating gear are moved along the circumferential direction of the turntable, but since the rotating gear meshes with the fixed gear and moves along the outer periphery of the fixed gear, With this movement, the rotating gear and the blood collection tube holder rotate themselves.
That is, the blood collection tube holder not only moves along the circumferential direction of the turntable, but also rotates with the movement. Therefore, the blood collection tube held by the blood collection tube holder is rotated with the rotation of the blood collection tube holder, and the sample in the blood collection tube is overturned and mixed.

In the blood collection tube stirring device of the present invention, when the blood collection tube holder itself moves along the circumferential direction of the turntable as described above, the blood collection tube held by the blood collection tube holder is rotated to perform the overturning and mixing operation. Will be fulfilled. Therefore, the rotation speed required for the overturning mixing can be adjusted by adjusting the number of teeth of the fixed gear and the rotation gear, so that the rotation speed of the turntable itself can be extremely reduced. Therefore, the blood collection tube can be easily set on the blood collection tube holder that has been transported at a very low speed in the circumferential direction of the turntable while the turntable is being rotated. That is, the blood collection tubes from which blood has been collected can be easily set in the blood collection tube holder in sequence, and the time from blood collection to the completion of the inversion mixing can be reduced.

Further, as described in claim 2, the blood collection tube holder has an opening at one end into which a blood collection tube is inserted,
In a case where a cylindrical holder main body having a through hole on the side surface, a blood collection tube holding pin, and the urging means are provided, when setting the blood collection tube, the blood collection tube is inserted from the opening side of the holder main body. By simply doing so, the blood collection tube can be easily set, and after the setting, the blood collection tube is securely held in the blood collection tube holder by the blood collection tube holding pin urged by the urging means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the blood collection tube holding release member is provided at the blood collection tube removal position, and the blood collection tube holding release member comes into contact with the blood collection tube holding pin. It is moved in a direction away from the blood collection tube against the urging means. Therefore, the blood collection tube can be easily removed from the blood collection tube holder at the blood collection tube removal position.

In the invention described in claim 4, the initial position of the blood collection tube holder and the number of teeth of the fixed gear and the rotating gear are set so that the opening of the blood collection tube holder faces downward at the blood collection tube removal position. Therefore, at the blood collection tube removal position, the blood collection tube after inversion and mixing falls naturally from the opening of the blood collection tube holder.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 are a front view, a partial cross-sectional side view and a plan view showing a blood collection tube stirring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing its appearance. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 4, the blood collection tube stirring device 1 has a box-shaped device main body 2. A motor 3 as a rotary drive source is built in the inside of the apparatus main body 2. As the rotary drive source, an arbitrary configuration other than a motor, for example, a device in which a reciprocating drive source and a mechanism for converting a reciprocal drive source such as a rack and a pinion into a rotary drive force are used may be used. Can be.

A fixing plate 4 extending in the vertical direction is arranged in the apparatus main body 2 (FIG. 2). Fixing plate 4
Are fixed to the apparatus main body 2. This fixing plate 4
, The motor 3 is fixed.

The rotating shaft 3a of the motor 3 has a rotating shaft 3a
The pulley 5, which is rotated together with the pulley 5, is fixed. Also,
In the apparatus main body 2, as schematically shown in FIG.
A second pulley 6 is arranged beside the pulley 5. An endless belt 7 is stretched over the pulleys 5 and 6. Therefore, the second pulley 6 is configured to be rotated by the rotational driving force of the motor 3. The second pulley 6 is connected to the rotating shaft 8 so that it can rotate with the rotating shaft 8.
It is connected to. The rotation shaft 8 is rotatable so that the device body 2
It is pivoted on.

The rotating shaft 8 extends through the front plate 2a of the apparatus main body 2 and forward of the front plate 2a. A turntable 9 is connected to the rotating shaft 8 in front of the front plate 2a.
The turntable 9 is fixed to the rotation shaft 8 so as to be able to rotate together with the rotation shaft 8.

The turntable 9 has a disk shape, and has a plurality of blood collection tube holders 10 mounted in the vicinity of the outer peripheral edge along the circumferential direction. It should be noted that some of the plurality of blood collection tube holders 10 are not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The blood collection tube holder 10 includes a turntable 9
Is rotated in the direction of the arrow A together with the turntable 9 when it is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. That is, as the turntable 9 rotates, it rotates around the rotation shaft 8.

The blood collection tube holder 10 is provided for holding the blood collection tube 11. The structure of the blood collection tube holder 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
Is the blood collection tube holder 10 in the uppermost position shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a portion corresponding to FIG.

The blood collection tube holder 10 has a blood collection tube 11 at one end.
In order to insert the tube, a cylindrical holder body 1 having an opening 12a having an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the blood collection tube 11 is formed.
2

A through hole 12b smaller than the opening 12a is also formed at the end of the holder body 12 opposite to the side where the opening 12a is formed. The diameter of the through hole 12 b is smaller than the outer diameter of the blood collection tube 11. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 6, the blood collection tube 11 does not fall downward while being inserted into the holder main body 12.

On the other hand, a through hole 12c is formed in the side wall of the holder body 12. The blood collection tube holding pin 13 is inserted into the through hole 12c. Blood collection tube holding pin 13
Has a rod-like shape in the present embodiment, and has a curved end 13a.

The holder body 12 is fixed to a cylindrical support 14 fixed to a side wall of the holder body 12. The cylindrical support portion 14 has a through hole 14a inside, and the above-described blood collection tube holding pin 13 is inserted into the through hole 14a.

On the other hand, the turntable 9 has a through hole 9a.
A bearing 15 for rotatably supporting the cylindrical support portion 14 is attached to the through hole 9a. The bearing 15 can be formed of an appropriate bearing such as a bearing member using a ball bearing or the like. Preferably, a bearing 1 using a ball bearing
5 is used, whereby the rotation of the cylindrical support portion 14 and, consequently, the blood collection tube holder 10 are smoothly rotated.

As described above, since the blood collection tube holder 10 is rotatably supported by the bearing 15 attached to the turntable 9, the blood collection tube holder 10 is rotatably provided with respect to the turntable 9.

On the other hand, at the rear portion of the front plate 2a of the apparatus main body 2, a rotary gear 16 is fixed to the cylindrical support portion 14 so as to be able to rotate together with the cylindrical support portion 14 (see FIG. 5). Further, a fixed gear 17 provided with teeth on the outer periphery is arranged in the apparatus main body 2 so as to mesh with teeth provided along the outer periphery of the rotary gear 16. As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed gear 17 is fixed to the fixed plate 4 via a connecting pin 18. Therefore, the fixed gear 17 is configured not to rotate.

Referring back to FIG. 6, a step 14b is formed in the through hole 14a of the cylindrical support portion 14 behind the cylindrical support portion 14. The step 14b allows the rear through hole portion 14 to be formed.
The diameter of c is relatively large. In the through hole portion 14c having a relatively large diameter, a spring 20 as an urging means is externally inserted into the blood collection tube holding pin 13.

The rear end of the through-hole portion 14c is closed by a cap 21. In the blood collection tube holding pin 13, a flange portion 13b having a radial dimension larger than the diameter of the through hole portion in front of the step 14b is formed in the relatively large diameter portion 14c of the through hole 14a.
The spring 20 is disposed between the flange portion 13b and the inner surface of the cap 21.
The blood collection tube holding pin 13 is urged so that the pin 3 approaches the holder body 12.

Accordingly, when the blood collection tube 11 is inserted into the cylindrical holder body 12, the blood collection tube 1 is
1 is pressed and held against the inner wall of the holder body 12. In this case, if the inner diameter of the holder main body 12 is set to be larger than the outer diameter of the plurality of types of blood collection tubes 11 expected to be used, it is possible to cope with a plurality of types of blood collection tubes 11 having different outer diameters. Therefore, it is possible to easily cope with any of the blood collection tubes of 4 cc to 10 cc usually used for blood collection.

At the rear end of the blood collection tube holding pin 13, a second flange portion 13d is formed. The second flange portion 13d corresponds to a portion operated by a blood collection tube holding release member described below.

Returning to FIG. 1, a plurality of blood collection tube holders 10 are dispersedly arranged along the circumferential direction of the turntable 9. In the blood collection tube stirring device 1 of the present embodiment, the blood collection tube holder 10 is moved along the arrow A direction, as will be apparent from the operation description to be described later. At the blood collection tube removal position B indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1, the opening 12a of the holder main body 12 of the blood collection tube holder 10 is configured to face downward. Although not particularly limited, at the blood collection tube insertion position C indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1, the opening 12a of the holder main body 12 is arranged so as to face upward.

At the blood collection tube removal position B, a blood collection tube holding release member is attached to the blood collection tube stirring device 1 of this embodiment in order to allow the blood collection tube 11 to fall naturally. In other words, as shown in FIG.
5 are connected. In the present embodiment, the blood collection tube holding release member 25 has a plate-like shape, and its front surface forms a part of a circle concentric with the circumference of the turntable 9 as shown by a broken line in FIG. It has an arc shape. In FIG. 1, the blood collection tube holding release member 25 is configured so that the rear surface thereof extends rearward from the end indicated by the arrow D to the end indicated by the arrow E. 10 second flange portion 13d (FIGS. 5 and 6).
) Is moved backward.

That is, when the blood collection tube holder 10 moves in the direction of arrow A, the blood collection tube holding release member 25
Moves the second flange portion 13d fixed to the rear end of the blood collection tube holding pin 13 backward (see the arrow F in FIG. 6),
Thereby, the blood collection tube holding release member 25 is configured to function so as to compress the spring 20 and separate the distal end 13 a of the blood collection tube holding pin 13 from the blood collection tube 11.

In the present embodiment, the blood collection tube holding release member 25 is a plate-like member having a shape such that the rear surface extends rearward from the end D toward the end E as described above. Instead, the blood collection tube restraining release member can be constituted by an appropriate member as long as the member has an inclined surface capable of moving the flange portion 13d backward.

It is not always necessary to connect and fix the blood collection tube holding release member to the fixing plate 4;
May be fixed to other parts of the device body 2 such as
Alternatively, it may be formed integrally with a fixed portion constituting the apparatus main body 2.

Further, instead of the flange portion 13d, other shapes such as a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the blood collection tube holding pin 13 can be used as long as the flange can be pushed backward by being pushed by the blood collection tube holding release member 25. An extended plate-like body or the like may be used. That is, a member having an appropriate shape having a surface pushed backward by the blood collection tube holding release member 25 can be used.

Next, the operation of the blood collection tube stirring device 1 of this embodiment will be described. When inverting and mixing blood collection tubes using the blood collection tube stirring device 1, first, at the blood collection tube insertion position C in FIG. 1, the blood collection tube 11 is inserted from the opening 12 a of the holder main body 12 of the blood collection tube holder 10. In this embodiment, the opening 1
Since 2a faces upward, the blood collection tube 11 can be easily inserted into the holder body 12 from above. In this case, the motor 3 may be already driven to rotate, and the first blood collection tube 1
After setting 1 in the blood collection tube holder 10, the motor 3 may be driven to rotate. When the motor 3 is rotationally driven, the turntable 9 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A. As a result, the plurality of blood collection tube holders 10 connected to the turntable 9 are circulated along the arrow A direction.

On the other hand, the blood collection tube holder 10 is configured to be able to rotate independently with respect to the turntable 9. The rotating gear 16 is meshed with the substantially disc-shaped fixed gear 17, and the blood collection tube holder 10 is configured to be able to rotate together with the rotating gear 16. The rotating gear 16 is the fixed gear 1
When rotating around 7, the rotary gear 16 is rotated about the cylindrical support portion 14 as an axis. That is, the holder body 12 is also rotated around the axis of the cylindrical support portion 14.

Accordingly, as schematically shown in FIG. 1, the blood collection tube holder 10 into which the blood collection tube 11 is inserted is turned in the direction of arrow A together with the turntable 9 with the rotation of the turntable 9. However, the blood collection tube holder 10 itself is rotated around the axis of the cylindrical support portion 14. In other words, the blood collection tube 11 is rotated so that the axial direction of the blood collection tube 11 is included in the rotation plane. Therefore, the blood sample collected in the blood collection tube 11 is overturned and mixed as in the case of the overturning and mixing operation by hand.

On the other hand, the blood sample in the blood collection tube 11 is overturned and mixed by rotating the blood collection tube holder 10 about the axis of the cylindrical support portion 14 as described above, but the turntable 9 rotates, When the blood collection tube holder 10 into which the blood collection tube 11 is inserted reaches the blood collection tube removal position B in FIG. 1, the above-described overturning and mixing operation is completed.

In this case, as the blood collection tube removal position B is approached, the above-mentioned blood collection tube holding release member 25 moves the second flange portion 13d (FIG. 6) backward, and the distal end 13a of the blood collection tube holding pin 13 is moved. It is kept away from the side of the blood collection tube 11. Therefore, at the blood collection tube removal position B,
When the opening 12a of the holder main body 12 of the blood collection tube holder 10 faces downward, the blood collection tube 11 containing the blood sample that has been mixed by overturning falls naturally.

Therefore, in the blood collection tube stirring device 1 of the present embodiment, the blood collection tube 11 is easily set in the blood collection tube holder 10 simply by inserting the blood collection tube 11 from the opening 12a of the holder main body 12 at the blood collection tube insertion position C. At the blood collection tube removal position B, the blood collection tube 11 containing the blood sample mixed by inversion is naturally taken out.

In particular, when setting a blood collection tube, the distal end 13a of the blood collection tube holding pin 13 has a curved surface.
Since the distal end 13a is only in point contact with the blood collection tube 11, the blood collection tube 11 can be easily inserted from the opening 12a of the holder main body 12, and the blood collection tube 11 can be held by the holder main body 12. In addition, at the time of removal, no operation is required because the blood collection tube 11 simply falls down as described above. Therefore, the blood collection tube stirring device 1
In this case, the blood collection tube can be set and removed very easily, and the burden on the operator can be greatly reduced.

Note that, in the blood collection tube stirring device 1 of this embodiment,
Blood collection tube 1 set while turntable 9 makes one rotation
1 is configured such that the blood sample in 1 is inverted and mixed. Therefore, the diameter and the number of teeth of the rotating gear 16 and the fixed gear 17 may be adjusted so that the blood collection tube 11 can be provided with the rotation necessary for overturning and mixing. That is, by adjusting the diameter and the number of teeth of the rotating gear 16 and the fixed gear 17 according to the volume of the blood collection tube 11 and the amount of the stored blood sample, the blood sample can be reliably stirred.

Further, as described above, since the rotation of the turntable 9 is for securing the time required for the overturning mixing, the rotation speed of the turntable 9 does not need to be so high. Accordingly, the opening 1 of the holder main body 12 of the blood collection tube holder 10 transferred to the blood collection tube insertion position C.
The blood collection tube 11 can be easily inserted from 2a. That is, the blood collection tubes from which blood has been collected can be sequentially set on the holder main body 12 of the blood collection tube holder 10 easily without stopping the motor 3. Therefore, unlike the conventional batch-type blood collection tube stirring device, it is not necessary to stop the motor when setting and removing the blood collection tube, so that the time from blood collection to the completion of the inversion mixing can be greatly reduced.

It is preferable that the motor 3 serving as the rotary drive source be one that can freely rotate forward and reverse. In this case, by repeating the forward rotation and the reverse rotation, the turntable 9,
In addition, when the blood collection tube holder 10 is rotated in the direction of the arrow A, a reversal operation is included in between, so that overturning and mixing can be performed more effectively. In other words, it is said that it is effective to use a snap when operating by hand when mixing the blood sample by inversion, but by adding the above-mentioned reverse operation in between, the normal rotation after the reverse rotation In operation, the same effect as in the case where the snap is given can be expected.

[0058]

In the blood collection tube stirring device according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the turntable is rotated, the plurality of blood collection tube holders provided along the circumferential direction of the turntable are turned together with the turntable. Is moved in the circumferential direction. Then, the blood collection tube holder itself is rotatable with respect to the turntable, and a rotating gear provided to rotate with the blood collection tube holder engages with a fixed gear provided concentrically with the turntable to form a fixed gear. As it is configured to move along the outer circumference of the turntable, while the blood collection tube holder is moved in the circumferential direction of the turntable,
The blood collection tube holder itself rotates. Therefore, the blood sample contained in the blood collection tube is overturned and mixed by the rotation of the blood collection tube holder.

Since the blood sample is overturned and mixed by the rotation of the blood collection tube holder, the rotation speed of the turntable can be made extremely slow in consideration of the overturning and mixing time. Therefore, the blood collection tubes from which blood has been collected can be sequentially set in the blood collection tube holder while the rotation of the turntable is continued. That is, since the conventional blood collection tube stirring apparatus is a batch-type process, the apparatus has to be temporarily stopped when setting and removing the blood collection tube, whereas the blood collection tube stirring apparatus according to the present invention uses the blood collection tube holder. It is not necessary to increase the rotation speed of the turntable because of the rotation of the rotation of the turntable, so that blood collection tubes from which blood has been collected can be sequentially set without stopping the turntable.

Therefore, the period from the blood collection to the end of the inversion mixing operation can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional blood collection tube stirring device. In addition, according to the volume of blood collection tube and the amount of collected blood sample, the rotation speed of the turntable can be controlled to adjust the overturning mixing time, and the diameter and number of teeth of the rotating gear and fixed gear can be adjusted. By doing so, the blood sample can be surely and sufficiently mixed by inversion. Therefore, for example, when serum is obtained by centrifuging a blood sample after inversion mixing, fibrin hardly exists in serum because partial coagulation hardly occurs. Therefore, the accuracy of the clinical test result can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the blood collection tube holder, a holder body having an opening for inserting a blood collection tube at one end and having a through hole on a side surface, and a blood collection tube holding pin inserted into the through hole. And a biasing means provided to bias the blood collection tube holding pin toward the holder main body, so that when setting the blood collection tube, the blood collection tube is turned from the opening side of the holder main body against the urging means. Just insert
The blood collection tube can be easily set on the blood collection tube holder.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the blood collection tube holding release member is provided at the blood collection tube removal position so that the blood collection tube holding pin is moved in a direction away from the blood collection tube against the urging force of the urging means. Since it is provided so as to be in contact with a part of the blood vessel holding pin, the blood collection tube can be easily removed from the blood collection tube holder that has been moved to the blood collection tube removal position with the rotation of the turntable.

Particularly, when the initial position of the blood collection tube holder and the number of teeth of the fixed gear and the rotating gear are set such that the opening of the holder main body faces downward at the blood collection tube removal position. Since the blood collection tube naturally falls from the opening of the holder main body at the blood collection tube removal position, the blood collection tube after inversion mixing can be collected without any operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a blood collection tube stirring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side sectional view of the blood collection tube stirring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a blood collection tube stirring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a blood collection tube stirring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view for explaining the relationship between a blood collection tube holder, a fixed gear, and a rotating gear in the blood collection tube stirring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a main part of the blood collection tube stirring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view for explaining an example of a conventional blood collection tube stirring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Blood collection tube stirring device 2 ... Device main body 3 ... Motor as a rotation drive source 4 ... Fixed plate 8 ... Rotation axis 9 ... Turntable 10 ... Blood collection tube holder 11 ... Blood collection tube 12 ... Holder main body 12a ... Opening 12c ... Through-hole DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Blood collection tube holding pin 13a ... Tip 13b ... Flange part 13d ... Second flange part 14 ... Cylindrical support part 15 ... Bearing 16 ... Rotating gear 17 ... Fixed gear 20 ... Spring as urging means 25 ... Blood collection tube suppression Release member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tatsuo Yamamoto 2-1 Hyakuyama, Shimamoto-cho, Mishima-gun, Osaka Prefecture Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. (72) Kunio Shano 1 Machida 1, Makijima-cho, Uji-city, Kyoto Micronics F term in the company (reference) 2G045 AA01 CA25 HA05 HA06 HA14 JA09 4G036 AB11 AB18

Claims (4)

[Claims] An apparatus for agitating a sample in a blood collection tube by inversion mixing, which is connected to a rotation drive source and is rotated by receiving a driving force from the rotation drive source. And are provided along the circumferential direction of the turntable,
A plurality of blood collection tube holders rotatably connected to the turntable; a fixed gear connected to the turntable concentrically with the turntable and fixed so as not to rotate; and rotating with the blood collection tube holder. A rotating gear connected to the blood collection tube holder so as to engage with the fixed gear and move along the outer periphery of the fixed gear. 2. The blood collection tube holder has at one end an opening into which a blood collection tube is inserted, a cylindrical holder body having a through hole on a side surface, a blood collection tube holding pin inserted into the through hole, 2. The blood collection tube stirring device according to claim 1, further comprising an urging means provided in association with the blood collection tube holding pin so as to urge the blood collection tube holding pin toward the inside of the blood collection tube holder. 3. A blood collection tube holding release member which is brought into contact with the blood collection tube holding pin at the blood collection tube removing position so as to move the blood collection tube holding pin in a direction away from the blood collection tube against the urging force of the urging means. The blood collection tube stirring device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: 4. The blood collection tube holder according to claim 3, wherein the initial position of the blood collection tube holder and the number of teeth of the fixed gear and the rotating gear are set such that the opening of the blood collection tube holder faces downward at the blood collection tube removal position. Blood collection tube stirring device.