JP2013104769A - Lid body for container used for analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lid body for a container useful for suppressing the number of components of an analyzer, a manufacturing cost, the analyzer weight, the analyzer volume, and the like.SOLUTION: A lid body 10 for a container 20 having an opening part includes: a first fitting part 11 capable of tightly sealing the opening part by being fitted with the opening part of the container; and a second fitting part 12 capable of being fitted with a nozzle tip end part 31 provided at dispensing means provided on the analyzer. The dispensing means is concurrently served as the lid body and a carrying device of the container having the opening part so as to contribute to the reduction of the number of components of the analyzer.

Description

  The present invention relates to a lid for sealing an opening of a container used in an analyzer that automatically performs biochemical analysis, immunological analysis, gene analysis, and the like.

  For analyzers that automatically perform biochemical analysis, immunological analysis, genetic analysis, etc., the size and weight of the device itself, ease of operation and safety, rapid output of results, and reliability of the results obtained Is required. Such an analyzer generally includes means for supplying a sample or reagent, means for supplying a container, means for dispensing the sample or reagent, means for transporting the container, reaction means, and detection means. A number of specific components can be automatically analyzed. In addition, by including a substance labeled with a different dye or enzyme in the reagent and having a detection device capable of monitoring a plurality of wavelengths, a plurality of specific components in a sample can be automatically analyzed simultaneously.

  In the analysis apparatus described above, a cartridge type container in which a reagent for pre-processing a sample, a reaction reagent, a detection reagent and the like are enclosed is widely used for the convenience and safety of the analysis operation. However, when a cartridge type container is adopted, it is necessary to further include means for breaking the sealing part of the cartridge type container, leading to an increase in manufacturing cost, apparatus weight, and apparatus volume.

  Of the above-described analyzers, an analyzer that performs gene analysis usually performs a reaction for amplifying nucleic acid, and therefore it is necessary to pay particular attention to contamination (contamination) of the sample or reagent by the amplification reaction product. It is necessary to take anti-contamination measures such as providing a lid on the surface and using a disposable chip as a means for dispensing a sample or reagent (Patent Document 1). Therefore, it is necessary to further provide the analyzer with means for fitting the container and the lid. As a result, the number of components increases, leading to an increase in manufacturing cost, apparatus weight, and apparatus volume.

JP 2009-077639 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a container lid useful for suppressing the number of components of an analyzer, manufacturing cost, apparatus weight, apparatus volume, and the like.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has been completed as a result of repeated studies centering on the sharing of components.

That is, the first aspect of the present invention is:
A lid for the container used in an analyzer having a container having an opening and a dispensing means provided with a nozzle to which a dispensing tip can be attached and detached,
A first fitting part capable of sealing the opening by fitting with the opening of the container and a second fitting part capable of fitting with a nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means are provided. And the lid.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, the second fitting portion and the nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means are fitted, whereby the first fitting portion and the opening of the container are The lid according to the first aspect, capable of transporting the container in a fitted state.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the lid according to the first or second aspect, further provided with a breaking means capable of breaking a seal that seals the opening of the container.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the lid according to any one of the first to third aspects, further comprising a cylindrical skirt wall having a light shielding property at a position suspended from the peripheral edge of the upper surface. is there.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

  The dispensing means in the present invention has a nozzle that can be attached to and detached from a dispensing tip, and with a dispensing tip attached to the nozzle, sucks and holds a controlled amount of liquid and discharges it at a predetermined position. Any means having the above may be used. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a piston capable of precisely controlling the dispensing amount, or to provide a control means for accurately positioning the nozzle. Moreover, it is preferable to provide a pressing means for mounting (fitting) the dispensing tip or the lid of the present invention to the nozzle tip, and a remover for removing the mounted (fitting) dispensing tip or lid.

  The nozzle provided in the dispensing means in the present invention is originally intended to exhibit a function of dispensing a reagent or sample by mounting a dispensing tip. However, in this invention, a cover body can be conveyed by making a nozzle front-end | tip part fit with the 2nd fitting part provided in the cover body of this invention. Furthermore, when the lid and the container having the opening are fitted by the first fitting portion provided on the lid of the present invention, the lid and the opening of the container are fitted. The measurement container can be transported in a state. In addition, the vacuum conveyance such as a vacuum pump is connected to the base end portion of the nozzle provided in the dispensing means, thereby assisting the holding conveyance by fitting with the second fitting portion provided in the lid by vacuum suction. You can also.

  In the present invention, a container having an opening may contain a reagent or a mixture of a reagent and a sample. The reagent to be stored may be a liquid reagent or a lyophilized reagent. When containing a freeze-dried reagent, it is preferable to cover the opening with a seal made of a water-impermeable material and seal the opening in order to prevent moisture from entering.

  The shape of the second fitting portion provided in the lid of the present invention can be fitted to the nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means, and the lid is conveyed while maintaining the fitting state by moving the nozzle. The shape is not particularly limited as long as it is a possible shape, and examples thereof include a cylindrical recess, a polygonal column-shaped recess, a mortar-shaped recess, and a conical recess. In particular, it is preferable that the inner wall shape of the fitting portion is a shape imitating the inner wall shape of the dispensing tip because it can be attached and detached in the same manner as the dispensing tip. In addition, when the material of a cover body has elasticity, it is good also as an aspect which provided the slit which can be fitted with a nozzle front-end | tip part radially.

  As a preferable example of the lid body of the present invention, a lid body further provided with a breaking means such as a perforation protrusion on the opposite end of the second fitting portion (the bottom surface when the second fitting portion is provided on the top surface). By inserting the lid into a container whose opening is sealed by the seal, the seal can be broken by the breaking means. That is, the function of a seal breaker can be given to the lid. The breaking means may be any means that can be broken by pressing its tip against a seal that seals the opening, and is not limited to a specific shape. As an example, there is a breaking means having a pyramid shape such as a triangular pyramid, a quadrangular pyramid, etc. that can open a hole having a size that allows a sample to be sucked by inserting a dispensing tip by seal breaking.

  The lid of the present invention can seal the opening by fitting with the opening of the container by the first fitting portion, and the nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means by the second fitting portion A measurement container can be conveyed by making it fit with a part. In addition, when conveying the container sealed with the lid body of this invention, you may provide the latching | locking means for maintaining a sealed state further in the lid body of this invention.

  As the material of the lid of the present invention, an appropriate material may be selected from materials having moderate elasticity according to the material and shape of the container having the opening, and examples thereof include rubber and plastic. Specifically, thermosetting resins such as olefin resins, styrene resins, vinyl resins, carbonate resins, polyester resins, polyamide resins and the like can be given as preferred examples. In addition, when measuring the reaction liquid accommodated in the container with the opening part fitted with the cover body using an optical method, it is preferable that a cover body has light-shielding property. Furthermore, in order to supplement the light shielding properties of the container, for example, it is preferable to further provide a light shielding skirt wall that hangs down from the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the lid.

  Among the lids of the present invention, when producing a lid further provided with a breaking means such as a perforation protrusion, the lid provided with the first and second fitting portions and the breaking means are integrally formed. Although the manufacturing method is economical and preferable for handling, in order to make use of the elasticity of the lid and the sharpness of the breaking means, the breaking means is made of a member made of a material different from that of the lid, and the A method of manufacturing the lid of the present invention provided with breakage means by fitting with the lid is also effective.

  The lid of the present invention is a lid of a container having an opening used in an analyzer equipped with a dispensing means provided with a nozzle to which a dispensing tip can be attached and detached, and is fitted to the opening of the container Thus, a first fitting portion capable of sealing the opening and a second fitting portion capable of fitting with a nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means are provided. . With the lid of the present invention, since the dispensing means can also serve as a container transport device having a lid and an opening, it is possible to contribute to a reduction in the number of components of the analyzer.

  In other words, the second fitting portion provided on the lid allows the lid to be fitted to the nozzle tip provided on the dispensing means, so that the nozzle can only be dispensed by a dispensing tip attached. However, it can also be used for transporting the lid, mounting it on a container having an opening, and transporting the container. Also, when the second fitting part is mounted on the nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means by further providing a breaking means at the opposite end (bottom surface when the second fitting part is provided on the upper surface) The function of the seal breaker that breaks the seal covering the opening of the container having the opening can also be achieved.

The figure which showed an example of the cover body of this invention. The figure which showed another example of the cover body of this invention. The figure which showed another example of the cover body of this invention. The figure which showed the step which fits the nozzle front-end | tip part to the 2nd fitting part provided in the cover body among analysis of the specific component in the sample by the analyzer using the cover body of this invention. Of the analysis of specific components in the sample using the lid of the present invention, the seal is broken in a state where the nozzle tip and the second fitting portion provided on the lid are fitted. The figure which showed the step. The figure which showed the step which fits a dispensing tip to a nozzle front-end | tip part among the analysis of the specific component in the sample by the analyzer using the cover body of this invention. The figure which showed the step which sucks and hold | maintains a sample from a sample container in the state which the dispensing tip and the nozzle front-end | tip part fitted among the analysis of the specific component in the sample by the analyzer using the cover body of this invention. . Of the analysis of specific components in a sample by the analyzer using the lid of the present invention, the sucked and held sample is discharged into a container containing a reagent while the dispensing tip and the nozzle tip are fitted. The figure which shows a step. Of the analysis of a specific component in a sample by the analyzer using the lid of the present invention, the mixed solution of the sample and the reagent is dispensed into the container in a state where the dispensing tip and the nozzle tip are fitted. The figure which shows a step. Of the analysis of the specific component in the sample by the analyzer using the lid of the present invention, the first fitting with the nozzle tip and the second fitting provided on the lid fitted The figure which shows the step which seals a container opening part by a part. In the analysis of the specific component in the sample by the analyzer using the lid of the present invention, the container is held in the container holder temperature while the nozzle tip and the second fitting part provided on the lid are fitted. The schematic diagram showing a mode that it conveys and mounts on a tone measurement unit.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

  An example of the lid of the present invention is shown in FIG. A first fitting portion 11 capable of sealing the opening by fitting with a container 20 having an opening is provided on the bottom surface of the lid 10 in FIG. A second fitting portion 12 that can be fitted to the tip of the nozzle 31 in a state where the tip is removed is provided. The lid 10 can be held in a state where the second fitting portion 12 and the tip of the nozzle 31 are fitted, and the opening of the container 20 can be sealed.

  Another example of the lid of the present invention is shown in FIG. The difference between the lid 10 of FIG. 2 and the lid of FIG. 1 is that the seal 21 that seals the opening of the container 20 is broken at the opposite end of the second fitting portion 12 (the bottom surface of the lid 10). It has the projection part 13 for this. The lid 10 and the tip of the nozzle 31 are fitted in advance using the second fitting portion 12, and the protrusion 13 is stabbed (pressed) into the seal 21 in a state of fitting with the tip of the nozzle 31. Thus, the seal 21 can be broken and the opening of the container 20 can be opened.

  Another example of the lid of the present invention is shown in FIG. In the lid body 10 of FIG. 3, the lid body 10 has a light shielding property, and is hung from the outer periphery (that is, the upper surface peripheral edge portion of the lid body) of the opposite end (the bottom surface of the lid body 10) of the second fitting portion 12. A cylindrical skirt wall 14 having a light shielding property is provided at a position). The tip of the nozzle 31 is fitted to the second fitting portion 12, and the container 20 having the opening and the lid 10 are fitted by the first fitting portion 11, so that the container 20 is covered with the lid 10. It is conveyed with the state fitted. If the transported container 20 is installed in a light-shielding block provided with an optical measuring means capable of shielding the portion of the container 20 that is not shielded by the lid 10 in FIG. 3, the reaction contained in the container 20 in a sealed and light-shielded state. The liquid can be measured optically.

Next, an example of the analysis of the specific component in the sample by the analyzer using the lid of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The analyzers shown in FIGS. 4 to 11 include
A sample container 40 containing a sample;
A container 20b containing a reagent;
An empty container 20a;
A lid 10 that can be fitted to the opening of the container 20a;
A dispensing tip 50 capable of dispensing a sample and / or a reagent;
A dispensing device 30 provided with a nozzle 31 that can be fitted to the lid body 10 and the dispensing tip 50, a suction / drain port 32, and a means 33 that can transport the nozzle 31;
A reaction / detection means 60 having a temperature control block 61 provided with a container holder 62 on which the container 20a can be placed, and a detector 63;
The reagent accommodated in the container 20b is a freeze-dried reagent, and the opening is sealed by covering with a seal 21. In the analyzers shown in FIGS. 4 to 11, racks necessary for holding each container, lid, and dispensing tip are omitted. In addition, in the analysis apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 to 11, each component is described one by one for the sake of simplification of drawing and convenience of explanation. The container holder 62 provided in the dispensing tip 50, the dispensing device 30, and the temperature control block 61 includes a plurality of sets (for example, 8 sets) so that a large number of analysis processes can be performed simultaneously.

(1) Fitting between the tip of the nozzle 31 and the lid 10 (FIG. 4)
First, the nozzle 31 is lowered, and the tip of the nozzle 31 and the second fitting portion 12 provided on the upper surface of the lid body 10 are fitted.

(2) Breaking the seal 21 by the lid 10 (FIG. 5)
After the lid body 10 was fitted to the tip of the nozzle 31 and conveyed to the position of the container 20b, the nozzle 31 was lowered and the lid body 10 was pressed against the seal 21 to provide the lid body 10 on the bottom surface. The seal 21 is broken by the protrusion 13.

(3) Mounting of the dispensing tip 50 to the tip of the nozzle 31 (FIG. 6)
The lid body 10 after breaking the seal 21 is once transported to the original position, and is then unfitted with the tip of the nozzle 31. Thereafter, the nozzle 31 is transported to the dispensing tip 50 accommodating portion, and the tip end portion of the nozzle 31 is attached (fitted) to the proximal end portion of the dispensing tip 50.

(4) Sample suction by the dispensing device 30 (FIG. 7)
After the nozzle 31 equipped with the dispensing tip 50 is conveyed to the position of the sample container 40, the nozzle 31 is lowered and the sample in the sample container 40 is sucked and held.

(5) Dispensing sample into container 20b (FIG. 8)
After the dispensing tip 50 containing the sucked and held sample is transported to the position of the container 20b and discharged to the container 20b containing the lyophilized reagent, the sample and the reagent are mixed by suction and discharge by the dispensing device 30.

(6) Dispensing the mixed solution into the container 20a (FIG. 9)
The liquid mixture of the sample and the reagent obtained by the dispensing in the previous item (5) is sucked and held by the dispensing device 30 equipped with the dispensing tip 50 and then discharged to the container 20a.

(7) Sealing the measurement container (Fig. 10)
After the dispensing device 30 to which the dispensing tip 50 is attached is transported to the dispensing tip 50 accommodating portion or the dispensing tip discarding portion (not shown), the fitting between the tip of the nozzle 31 and the dispensing tip 50 is removed. Then, the nozzle 31 is transported to the accommodating portion of the lid body 10, and the tip end portion of the nozzle 31 and the second fitting portion 12 provided on the upper surface of the lid body 10 are fitted again. Thereafter, the nozzle 31 is conveyed to the position of the container 20a in a state where the tip of the nozzle 31 and the lid 10 are fitted, and the opening of the container 20a is sealed by fitting the lid 10 and the container 20a.

(8) Transfer to reaction / detection device 60 (FIG. 11)
The container 20a is transported to and placed on the container holder 62 provided on the temperature control block 61 in a state where the tip of the nozzle 31 and the second fitting part 12 provided on the upper surface of the lid body 10 are fitted. After the fitting between the tip of the nozzle 31 and the second fitting portion 12 is removed, the detector 63 analyzes the specific component in the sample while reacting the sample and the reagent contained in the container 20a. Do.

  In addition, when the detector 63 is an optical detector, it is preferable that the temperature control block 61 and the lid body 10 are materials having a light shielding property. Furthermore, the shape of the lid 10 is a shape that covers a portion of the container 20a that is exposed from the temperature control block 61 (for example, a shape that covers the exposed portion with a cylindrical skirt wall having a light shielding property (see FIG. 3). A lid)) is preferable because the light shielding property is increased.

  An example of analysis of a specific component in a sample by an analyzer using the lid of the present invention shown in FIGS. 4 to 11 is a sample by mixing a sample and a reagent to react and detecting a reaction product. The explanation was made according to the basic process of analyzing specific components in the inside. If the analyzer is a gene analyzer, in addition to the steps described above, a step for extracting nucleic acid from the sample, a step for adjusting the temperature of the nucleic acid amplification reagent, a step for adjusting the temperature of the enzyme reagent, etc. are prepared separately. Therefore, the reagent dispensing process and the container transport process are further complicated. However, the lid of the present invention can reduce the number of components of the analyzer and contribute to the suppression of manufacturing cost, apparatus weight, and the like.

10: Lid 11: First fitting portion 12: Second fitting portion 13: Projection portion 14: Skirt wall 20: Container (having an opening) 21: Seal 30: Dispensing device 31: Nozzle 32 : Inlet / outlet port 33: nozzle transfer means 40: sample container 50: dispensing tip 60: reaction / detection device 61: temperature control block 62: container holder 63: detector

Claims (4)

A lid for the container used in an analyzer having a container having an opening and a dispensing means provided with a nozzle to which a dispensing tip can be attached and detached,
A first fitting part capable of sealing the opening by fitting with the opening of the container and a second fitting part capable of fitting with a nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means are provided. The lid. The container can be transported in a state in which the first fitting portion and the opening of the container are fitted by fitting the second fitting portion and the nozzle tip provided in the dispensing means. The lid according to claim 1. The lid according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a breaking means capable of breaking a seal that seals the opening of the container. The lid according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a cylindrical skirt wall having a light-shielding property at a position depending from a peripheral portion of the upper surface.

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