JP2540318B2 - Sample rack supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a multi-sample automatic sample analyzer, more specifically, a sample rack in which a plurality of test-tube-shaped sample containers are set up is conveyed by a belt conveyor, The present invention relates to a multi-sample automatic analyzer capable of sequentially measuring the sample by any of a plurality of analyzers.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a sample cradle supply device in a multi-sample automatic analyzer, for example, there is one described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-154834. This device is equipped with two stockers for stocking a plurality of sample mounts, the sample mounts are sent from the first stocker to the inspection section by the transfer device, and after the inspection is completed, the mounts are also transferred to the second stocker by the transfer device. The transfer method is to apply a lever to the recessed portion on the bottom of the gantry, and feed it in a fixed direction.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional device, the gantry cannot be sent in the reverse direction, and therefore, when reinspection is required, the gantry must be retracted upon acquisition.

Further, in the conventional device, the two stockers and the transfer device are integrated, and the directions of supply and discharge of the gantry are restricted. In addition, it was not considered to automatically carry the gantry to another analyzer. Furthermore, the number of mounts that can be placed on the stocker at one time was limited to 5 to 10.

Furthermore, in the conventional device, since a plurality of analyzers are not provided and the analyzers are not bypassed as necessary,
The processing speed of the entire system could not be improved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to reduce the waiting time by installing a plurality of analyzers, bypassing the analyzers as necessary, and sending a sample mount to an empty analyzer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-sample automatic analyzer which can improve the overall processing speed, facilitate retesting, and separate each component into one or a plurality of components. .

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems]

The multi-sample automatic analyzer of the present invention is a start yard that sequentially stocks a plurality of sample racks holding sample containers in a row and sequentially feeds the sample racks to a rack slider to be described later in a longitudinal direction, and sequentially supplies samples to the sample rack. A plurality of analyzers that perform the measurement, and a sampler that transfers the sample cradle to sequentially provide the sample cradle arranged in front of each of these analyzers to the analyzer,
A conveyor arranged corresponding to the sampler for transferring the sample mount without providing it to the analyzer, between the start yard and the sampler and conveyor of the analyzer at the front stage, and the sampler and conveyor of the analyzer at the preceding stage and the following. Between the sampler and the conveyor of the stage analyzer,
Arranged between the sampler and the conveyor of the final stage analyzer and the stockyard described later, each is provided with a conveyor line for transferring the sample rack, and the conveyor line is selectively selected from the start yard, the sampler and the conveyor, and the sampler and the conveyor. Optionally, a rack slider that moves the conveyor line so as to selectively connect with a sampler, a conveyor, and a stockyard, and a stockyard that sequentially receives and accumulates sample racks that have undergone predetermined processing from the rack slider, And a control unit for controlling the operation of each of the components, and each of the components is individually separably connected.

In the above-described multi-sample automatic analyzer, a transfer mechanism is provided at the rearmost part of the stock yard where the sample racks are accumulated so as to send the sample rack that has undergone a predetermined process to another analysis system.

The movement of the sample mount on the sample mount for each sample container is controlled by the stopper of the sample mount attached to the sampler.

In addition, the stock yard consists of a conveyor part that receives the sample mounts and a stock part that collects the sample mounts.
As described above, the rear of the stockyard is provided with the transfer mechanism for sending out the sample rack that has been processed by the present apparatus to another analysis system.

It is also possible to add an auxiliary conveyor within the device to adjust the overall length of the transfer line of the device.

The respective constituent elements of the above-described device are individually separated and independent, and one or a plurality of constituent elements may be combined as necessary to form a specimen mount supply apparatus according to the purpose.

In addition, the stopper that controls the movement of the sample mount in the sampler can also move in the direction opposite to the normal transfer direction of the sample mount. The measurement can be realized.

Further, a transfer mechanism is provided at the rear part of the stock yard, and the function of this transfer mechanism allows the sample mounts accumulated in the stock part to be successively carried out to another analysis system.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the shape of the constituent devices described in this embodiment, the relative arrangement thereof, and the like, unless otherwise specified, are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them, and are merely illustrative examples. Only.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the multi-sample automatic analyzer 10 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line EE in FIG. is there.

This multi-sample automatic analyzer 10 is equipped with a sample rack 30 before measurement.
A, 30B, 30C are arranged side by side and stocked, and a start yard 12 having a function of sending out sequentially, auxiliary conveyors 14A, 14B for adjusting the length of the conveyor for transferring the sample mount sent from the start yard 12, and the sample mount Rack sliders 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D for switching the transfer path of the sampler, and samplers 20A, 20B for sequentially sending the sample containers 28 set up on the sample mount to the measuring section of the analyzers 18A, 18B, and the transfer section of the sampler. From conveyors 22A and 22B having the same length, a stock yard 24 that accumulates the pedestals for which measurement has been completed, a sensor that determines the presence or absence of a sample pedestal in each part of the device, and a control unit 26 that controls the operation of these devices Composed.

Although these constituent devices can be individually separated, they are arranged in alignment on the measuring table 11 as shown in FIG. 2 in order to perform a desired operation by combining them.

Generally, when supplying sample containers to the measuring unit of an analyzer continuously and continuously, the direction in which the sample container is sent should be limited because the analyzer has a restriction on the function of distinguishing the sample, stirring and measuring. There are many. Analytical apparatus 18A, 18B of this embodiment
Then, the sample container 28 standing on the sample mount 30 needs to be transferred from the right direction to the left direction in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 and pass through the measurement section of the analyzer.

Further, the sample in the sample container may be measured by one type of analyzer and then measured by another type of analyzer one after another. When measuring with multiple types of analyzers in this way, it is necessary to rationally arrange the analyzers in the measurement chamber and consider that the sample container can be transferred smoothly, which improves the efficiency of the measurement process. Needed above. In this example, the sample rack is supplied from the left side of the multi-sample automatic analyzer 10 and carried out from the right side due to the arrangement of the measurement chamber.

In addition, in this embodiment, the analyzers 18A and 18B of the same type are used.
It shows the case where two units are prepared in parallel and the sample racks are sent one after another to the vacant device to improve the overall processing speed. However, the number of analyzers should be one or three or more. Of course, it is possible.

Next, the operation of the multi-sample automatic analyzer 10 will be described.

A sample rack 30 in which the sample container 28 before measurement is erected as shown in FIG. 4 is stocked in the start yard 12. FIG. 1 shows a case where eight pedestals 30A, 30B and 30C are stocked. A maximum of 16 mounts can be stocked in the start yard 12 of this embodiment. When the mount is sent out from the start yard 12,
New mounts can be added to Start Yard 12 at any time.

The start yard 12 starts to move according to a command from the control unit 26, and the gantry 30 is sent to the conveyor line one by one.
The shaded portion in FIG. 1 is the conveyor line. Unless otherwise specified, the following operations are all performed by the control unit 26.
It is performed according to the instruction from.

The first pedestal 30A, after being sent out from the start yard 12, has an auxiliary conveyor 14A, a rack slider 16A, and a conveyor.
Rack slider 16B conveyor line 32B passing through 22A
It reaches and stops. After this, the conveyor line 32B moves backward (moves upward in FIG. 1) to a position matching the conveyor line 34A of the sampler 20A. Thus, the pedestal
After the transfer line of 30A is switched, the gantry 30A is sent to the left from the conveyor line 32B and proceeds to the conveyor line 34A of the sampler 20A. In sampler 20A, the mount
The sample containers 28 on 30A are sequentially processed. The details of the processing include, for example, optical reading of the sample identification code attached to the sample container, checking of the sample amount, stirring of the sample,
Suction or the like is performed. The aspirated sample is measured by the analyzer 18A. On the other hand, after sending the gantry 30A to the sampler 20A, the conveyor line 32B of the rack slider 16B
Returns to the front (the position shown in FIG. 1).

Next, the gantry 30B is sent out from the start yard 12,
Auxiliary conveyor 14A, rack slider 16A, conveyor 22A,
After passing through the rack sliders 16B and 16C and the conveyor 22B, the rack slider 16D reaches the conveyor line 32D and stops. After that, the conveyor line 32D moves backward to switch the transfer line, the pedestal 30B is sent to the sampler 20B, and is processed in the same manner as the pedestal 30A. After sending out the gantry 30B, the conveyor line 32D returns to the front.

On the other hand, when all the sample containers 28 on the gantry 30A have been processed by the sampler 20A, the gantry 30A is sent to the left from the sampler 20A. At this time, the conveyor line 32A of the rack slider 16A is the conveyor line 34A of the sampler 20A.
The pedestal 30A is already retracted to a position matching with, and the gantry 30A is sent to the rack slider 16A. Next, the conveyor line 32A on which the gantry 30A is placed returns to the front (the position shown in FIG. 1). After this, the pedestal 30A is a conveyor 22A, rack sliders 16B, 16C,
After passing through the conveyor 22B, the rack slider 16D, and the auxiliary conveyor 14B and being sent to the conveyor line 36 of the stockyard 24, the stockyard 38 is extruded and accumulated in the rear stock section 38.

On the other hand, it is confirmed by a sensor that the auxiliary conveyor 14A, the rack slider 16A, the conveyor 22A, the rack slider 16B, and the sampler 20A have no stand, and that the conveyor lines 32A and 32B of the rack sliders 16A and 16B are in the front. When,
The gantry 30C is sent out from the start yard 12 and is transferred to the sampler 20A through the same path as the gantry 30A for processing.

On the other hand, when the processing of the gantry 30B in the sampler 20B is completed, the rack slider 16C, the conveyor 22B, and the rack slider
16D, auxiliary conveyor 14B, there is no stand in the conveyor line 36 of the stockyard 12, also, the conveyor line 32C of the rack slider 16C is in the rear, after it is confirmed that the conveyor line 32D of the rack slider 16D is in the front, Stand 3
0B is sent to the rack slider 16C and transferred to the stockyard 24.

Below, the pedestal (not shown) that follows the pedestal 30C is also the sampler 2
It is sequentially transferred to the free one of 0A and sampler 20B.

In the processing by the sampler, when the sample container 28 is not present in the sample container holder 40 of the sample mount 30, the process at that portion is skipped, and the mount 30 is sent for one sample. Further, when the amount of the sample in the sample container 28 is small, the sample is not stirred or measured, and a message to that effect is displayed on the analyzer. The conveyor lines 34A, 34B of the samplers 20A, 20B are always moving to the left, and the sample mount placed on the conveyor lines is always trying to move to the left. The sampler is provided with a stopper (not shown) for stopping the movement of the sample mount, and the movement of the sample mount in the sampler is controlled by moving the stopper to the left one sample at a time. When it becomes necessary to re-measure the sample, the stopper is sent to the right, and the sample mount is moved back to the right against the movement of the conveyor line to the left. Then, after returning the target sample container to the measurement unit, remeasurement is performed.

When the measurement of all the sample containers 28 of all the pedestals 30 is completed and all the pedestals are gathered in the stock yard 24, the operation of the multi-sample automatic analyzer 10 is completed and stopped.

Although not shown in this embodiment, a sample rack transfer mechanism is provided at the rear of the stockyard 24, and the sample rack can be easily sent from this to a system of another analyzer.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

(1) The sample mount from the start yard can be selectively supplied to at least one analyzer and collected in the stock yard. For example, it is possible to supply the sample mount to only the front-stage analyzer (bypassing the rear-stage analyzer) or to supply only to the rear-stage analyzer (bias the front-stage analyzer). In this case, since the sample mount can be sent to the vacant analyzer, the waiting time can be reduced and the processing speed of the entire system can be improved. In addition, if necessary, all analyzers, for example,
It is also possible to supply the sample mounts to both the front and rear analysis devices.

(2) The multi-sample automatic analyzer is composed of constituent elements that can be individually separated, and one or a plurality of constituent elements can be combined as necessary, and can be configured extremely flexibly according to various requirements.

(3) When a transfer mechanism that automatically carries out the sample rack that has been processed by the multi-sample automatic analyzer to another analysis system is provided, the entire analysis room can be systematized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of the multi-sample automatic analyzer of the present invention, FIG. 2 is the same front view, and FIG. 3 is EE in FIG.
A line sectional view and FIG. 4 are perspective views of the sample mount. 10 ... Multi-sample automatic analyzer, 11 ... Measuring stand, 12 ... Start yard, 14A, 14B ... Auxiliary conveyor, 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D ...
Rack slider, 18A, 18B ... Analytical equipment, 20A, 20B ... Sampler, 22A, 22B ... Conveyor, 24 ... Stockyard, 26 ...
Control unit, 28 ... Sample container, 30, 30A, 30B, 30C ... Sample mount, 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D ... Rack slider conveyor line, 34A, 34B ... Sampler conveyor line, 36 ... Stockyard conveyor line, 38… Stock part of stock yard, 40… Sample container holding part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A start yard for sequentially stocking a plurality of sample mounts holding sample containers in a row and sequentially sending the sample mounts to a rack slider to be described later in a longitudinal direction, and a plurality of units for sequentially measuring samples on the sample mounts. And the sampler that transfers the sample mount to sequentially provide the sample mount placed on the front of each of these analyzers to the analyzer, and the sample mount placed corresponding to the sampler to the analyzer. A conveyor to be transferred without any means, between the start yard and the sampler and conveyor of the front stage analyzer, between the sampler and conveyor of the front stage analyzer and the sampler and conveyor of the next stage analyzer, the last stage analyzer Is provided between the sampler and the conveyor and the stock yard described later, each of which is equipped with a conveyor line for transferring the sample mount, Rack slider that moves the conveyor line so that the inn is selectively connected to the start yard, sampler, and conveyor, and selectively connected to the sampler, conveyor, and the sampler, conveyor, and stockyard. A stock yard for sequentially receiving and accumulating the prepared sample mount from the rack slider, and a control unit for controlling the operation of each of the above-described components are included, and each of the components is individually and separably connected. A multi-sample automatic analyzer. 2. A transfer mechanism for sending out a sample rack, which has been subjected to a predetermined process, to another analysis system at the rearmost part of the stock yard where the sample racks are accumulated. Multi-sample automatic analyzer.