JP3179581B2 - Stirring device and device provided with the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stirrer and a stirrer.
Relates to a device comprising, Contact stirrer was particularly utilizing elastic deformation
And an apparatus provided with the same .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of analysis technology, there is a demand for efficient analysis of a large number and variety of solutions.

[0003] Depending on the purpose of the analysis, there is a case where a suspension solution containing sedimented fine particles or a solution that separates components is stirred to make a uniform concentration before the analysis. In this case, the solution is stirred using, for example, a stirrer as shown in FIGS.

[0004] A stirring machine 80 shown in FIG. 8 puts a propeller-like stirring section 82 in a container containing a solution and a motor 8.
4, the stirring unit 82 is rotated to efficiently stir the solution. The stirring machine shown in FIG. 9 is a magnetic stirrer. The magnetic stirrer 90 puts a rotor 94, which is a magnet coated with Teflon, in a solution placed in a non-metal container 92 such as a flask. The magnet 96 on the main body of the tick stirrer 90 is rotated by the motor 98. With this rotation, the rotator 94 rotates in the solution to efficiently stir the solution.

After the above-described stirring operation, the solution is distributed little by little into an analysis container or a test tube, and the solution is set in an analyzer and analyzed.

In some analyzers, the stirred solution is divided into a plurality of analysis vessels and test tubes and set in the analyzer, and then the analysis vessels and test tubes set by an ultrasonic vibrator or a vibrator. There is an analyzer having a vibration means for applying vibration to the analyzer, and an analyzer having an analysis container equipped with a small one of the above-mentioned stirrers, which can maintain the stirring state of the solution even after being set in the analyzer. There is.

[0007]

However, the stirrer is suitable for stirring a large amount of solution, and the stirrer is also large. Therefore, after the solution was stirred in a place different from the analyzer, the solution had to be divided into small portions in the analysis container and the test tube for analysis. At this time, if the solution is divided into analysis containers and test tubes, the analysis must be completed before the fine particles of the solution settle or separate, so only a few tubes can be set in the analyzer, It was difficult to set the analysis containers and test tubes at a time in the analyzer and perform sequential analysis. Therefore, it has been a factor that hinders the automation of the analyzer and the efficiency of the analysis work.

Also, maintaining the stirring state by the vibrating means provided in the analyzer only applies vibration to the solution from the outside, and it is impossible to maintain a sufficient stirring state for a long time. .

Further, in a container in which a small stirring device is mounted in the analysis container, if the solution is to be sucked by a nozzle or the like, the stirring device is in the way and the nozzle does not reach the bottom of the container and the solution is completely discharged. There was a problem that it could not be sucked.

Accordingly, the present invention has as its first object to provide a stirrer capable of performing efficient stirring with a simple structure, and secondly, to provide an efficient stirrer without providing a new complicated drive mechanism. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing apparatus and a sample analyzer capable of performing a typical stirring operation and a dispensing analysis operation.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, first, the bottom surface is formed in a tapered shape,
A liquid storage container for storing a liquid, an upper surface cap covering an upper surface of the liquid storage container and having an opening in a central portion; an opening of the upper surface cap inserted into the liquid storage container from the opening of the upper surface cap An elastically deformable stirring fin having an upper end protruding from the lower end thereof, and a lower end contacting the tapered surface of the liquid storage container, and pressing means for contacting the upper end of the stirring fin and pressing the stirring fin downward. The second feature is a dispensing device and a sample analyzer, wherein a bottom surface is formed in a tapered shape, and a liquid storage container for storing a liquid, and an upper surface of the liquid storage container. An upper surface cap having an opening at a central portion, and an upper surface cap having an opening at the center portion, the upper surface cap being inserted into the liquid storage container from the opening of the upper surface cap, and being supported by an upper surface member having an opening at the upper surface; Luo upper end protrudes abutting elastically deformable stirring fins on the lower end is tapered surfaces of the liquid container,
And a pressing unit that contacts the upper end of the upper surface member and presses the stirring fin downward. The third aspect is that the pressing unit that presses the stirring fin is a sample. Is a dispensing nozzle for dispensing.

[0012]

In the stirring device of the present invention, an elastically deformable stirring fin is in contact with the tapered surface of the liquid container having a tapered bottom surface. When the stirring fin is pressed downward by the pressing means, the stirring fin is elastically deformed and curved along the tapered surface. Next, when the pressing means is opened, the stirring fin is restored by its own elasticity. By repeating this operation, the solution in the container is stirred. A dispensing device equipped with the stirring device;
The stirring of the solution is performed by using a movable portion of the sample analyzer , for example, a dispensing nozzle of the dispensing device as a pressing means.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a stirring container 1 has a liquid storage container 2 having an opening on an upper surface and a tapered bottom surface.
An upper surface cap 6 having an opening 4 in the center and covering the upper surface of the liquid container 2, an upper surface member 8 having an opening 9 in the upper surface, and an elastic material such as vinyl chloride;
And two agitating fins 10 arranged opposite to each other with a predetermined interval by the upper surface member 8. Having a stirring device.
FIG. 2 shows a state where the stirring vessel 1 is assembled and housed in a storage rack 12 that houses a plurality of the stirring vessels 1.

A feature of the present invention is that the stirring fin 10 repeatedly bends and restores along the bottom surface of the liquid container 2 to stir the solution.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the two stirring fins 10 supported by the upper surface member 8 are slidably engaged with the openings 4 of the upper surface cap 6, and the two stirring fins 10 are slidable. The lower ends of the fins 10 abut without being curved near the center of each of the two tapered portions 3 of the liquid storage container 2. At this time, the vertical length of the upper surface member 8 and the stirring fin 10 combined is formed to be sufficiently longer than the depth of the liquid storage container 2, and the upper surface of the upper surface cap 6 includes the upper surface member 8. The movable part is in a protruding state.

Next, the stirring operation will be described. First, the upper member 8 supporting the stirring fin 10 is pressed in the direction of arrow B in the drawing by a pressing means. According to this pressing operation, the stirring fin 10 is moved, as shown in FIG.
Each of the liquid storage containers 2 curves inward along the tapered portion 3 on the bottom surface. After the upper surface member 8 is pressed to a predetermined position and the pressing means is retracted upward, FIG.
As shown in (b), the stirring fin 10 is restored to its original state by its own elastic force. At this time, the outer surface 10a of the stirring fin 10 pushes the surrounding solution outward.

As described above, the bending of the stirring fin 10
The solution is stirred by repeating the restoring operation.

The upper member 8 has an opening 9 through which the solution immediately after stirring can be sucked.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a dispensing apparatus equipped with the stirring vessel 1 as described above.

The dispensing device 50 is an automatic device that aspirates a solution from a container containing a solution such as a reagent at a predetermined rate and continuously distributes and injects the solution into a container containing a sample such as blood.

Here, the operation of the dispensing device 50 will be described. The dispensing nozzle 54 supported by the three-dimensional robot arms 52X, 52Y, 52Z first has a nozzle tip 56
In order to mount the nozzle tip, the nozzle tip 56 is moved to the position of the nozzle chip storage case 56a at the rear of the apparatus, and the nozzle tip 56 is mounted. Next, the dispensing nozzle 54 moves to the position of the storage rack 12 that stores the stirring containers 1 arranged in a large number on the reagent table 58 located at the left end of the apparatus to aspirate the reagent. Then, as shown in FIG.
And the nozzle tip 56 is inserted through the opening 9 of the upper surface member 8 supporting the stirring fin 10, and a constant amount of the solution in the container is sucked. At this time, since the upper surface member 8 is not pressed, the stirring fin 10 and the nozzle tip 56 are in a parallel relationship, and the nozzle tip 56 is
And the solution can be aspirated to the end.

Further, the dispensing nozzle 54 that has sucked the solution moves to the position of the sample pallet 60 containing a large number of samples arranged at the center of the dispensing apparatus, and discharges the solution to a predetermined sample container 60a.

Next, the stirring operation in the dispensing apparatus will be described.

When stirring, the dispensing nozzle 54 moves above the stirring vessel 1 for stirring arranged on the reagent table 58 without mounting the nozzle tip 56. The dispensing nozzle 54 that has moved moves down toward the upper surface member 8 as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the dispensing nozzle 54
As shown in FIG. 7B, the upper surface member 8 is brought into contact with the upper surface member 8, and the upper surface member 8 is pressed down to bend the stirring fin 10 along the tapered portion 3 of the liquid container 2. The dispensing nozzle 54 is retracted upward immediately after the lowering to the predetermined position. Accordingly, the stirring fin 10 is restored by its own elastic force, and the stirring fin 10 pushes the surrounding solution outward by the outer surface 10a. At this time, the outer diameter of the dispensing nozzle 54 is formed larger than the opening 9 of the upper surface member 8, so that the upper surface member 8 can be pushed down stably. On the other hand, the opening 9 of the upper surface member 8 is
Since the nozzle tip 56 is formed larger than the nozzle tip 56, it does not hinder the suction operation by the nozzle tip 56.

The solution can be efficiently stirred by repeating such a bending / restoring operation of the stirring fin 10 several times.

As described above, by mounting the above-described stirring vessel 1 on the dispensing apparatus 50, the stirring operation can be performed by the same dispensing nozzle, and the nozzle tip can be immediately mounted to perform the dispensing operation. it can.

In this embodiment, the stirring vessel 1 having a substantially pentagonal cross section has been described. However, the shape is not limited. For example, a conical test tube may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, the description has been made using two stirring fins. However, the number of stirring fins is not limited. For example, the same effect can be obtained with one fin. When a conical test tube is used for the liquid container as described above, more effective stirring can be performed by using three or four stirring fins.

Although the material of the stirring fin has been described as being made of vinyl chloride, the material is not limited to this, but may be other easily elastically deformable synthetic resin or a thin metal such as stainless steel.

In this embodiment, an example in which a stirring device is mounted on the dispensing device has been described. However, for example, a solution requiring stirring such as a turbidity measuring device or an optical component analyzer is used.
Needless to say, it can be used for a sample analyzer.

[0032]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The elastically deformable stirring fins are bent in the liquid container.
The solution can be stirred by repeating the reconstitution. Therefore, it is possible to provide a stirrer that performs efficient stirring without newly providing a complicated stirring structure.

Further, a dispensing device equipped with a stirring device and a
Charge moving parts which is a movable portion to the dispensing apparatus and sample analyzer of the analyzer, for example, since use of the dispensing nozzle of the dispensing device, the dispensing device to perform efficient stirring without providing a new driving mechanism And a sample analyzer .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a stirring vessel of a stirring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view illustrating a stirring vessel of the stirring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an assembled sectional view illustrating a stirring vessel of the stirring device according to the present invention.

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views illustrating a stirring operation of the stirring device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a curved state of the stirring fin, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a restored state of the stirring fin. It is.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a dispensing device equipped with a stirring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a solution suction state of a dispensing device equipped with a stirring device according to the present invention.

7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating a stirring operation of a dispensing device equipped with a stirring device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a restored state of the stirring fin, and FIG. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional propeller type liquid stirring machine.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional magnetic stirrer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stirring container 2 Liquid container 4 Opening 6 Upper surface cap 8 Upper surface member 9 Opening 10 Stirring fin

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-60-175503 (JP, A) JP-A-1-1511928 (JP, A) JP-A-63-55890 (JP, U) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01F 11/00-11/04 B01F 13/00-13/10 G01N 1/28

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A liquid storage container having a bottom surface formed in a tapered shape and storing a liquid, an upper surface cap covering an upper surface of the liquid storage container and having an opening in a central portion; An elastically deformable stirring fin inserted into the liquid storage container and having an upper end protruding from an opening of the upper cap and a lower end abutting on a tapered surface of the liquid storage container; And a pressing unit that presses downward. 2. A liquid storage container having a bottom surface formed in a tapered shape for storing a liquid, an upper cap covering an upper surface of the liquid storage container and having an opening in a central portion, and an opening formed in the upper cap. An elastically deformable stirring fin inserted into the liquid storage container and having an upper end protruding from an opening of the upper cap and a lower end abutting on a tapered surface of the liquid storage container; A sample analyzer, comprising: a stirrer having a pressing means for pressing the sample downward. 3. A liquid storage container having a bottom surface formed in a tapered shape and storing a liquid, an upper surface cap covering an upper surface of the liquid storage container and having an opening at a central portion; An elastically deformable stirring fin inserted into the liquid container, supported by an upper surface member having an opening on the upper surface, an upper end protruding from an opening of the upper surface cap, and a lower end contacting the tapered surface of the liquid container, A dispensing device comprising: a stirrer having a pressing unit that contacts an upper end of the upper surface member and presses the stirring fin downward. 4. The dispensing device according to claim 3, wherein the pressing means for pressing the stirring fin is a dispensing nozzle for dispensing a sample.