JPS62194462A - Cooling device for reagent bottle table - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the accurate control of temp. by increasing the effect of cooling a reagent bottle, by forming a certain passage for cooling air in a reagent bottle table. CONSTITUTION:The fixed shaft 12 provided to the central part of a reagent bottle table 16 has a hollow part 14 forming a passage 15. The table 16 has an annular structure consisting of a cylindrical side plate 16, a bottom 16b and an inside plate 16c and pivotally supported by the fixed shaft 12 through a bearing 24 to be intermittently revolved by a drive device 22. A surrounding plate 16 surrounds the outer periphery of the table 16 and consists of a side plate 26a, a bottom plate 26b and a cover 34. A large number of reagent bottles 30 are radially and equally received in the table 16 and passages 36 are formed between the bottles. A plurality of passages 32 are formed to the bottom plate 16b by openings 31. Cooling air enters an inlet and 40 through a pipe 46 and equally flows to the passages 36 as a falling stream from the passage 15 through a passage 34 and enters a cooling air generator 45 as exhaust air from an outlet end 42 to release quantity of heat and subsequently used again as cooling air.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cooling device for a reagent bottle table, and more particularly to a device that can easily control the temperature of reagents accurately.

[Conventional technology] In automatic analyzers that can perform multi-purpose, multi-item measurements such as biochemical analysis, immunological analysis, blood drug test analysis, and even electrolyte analysis, reagent bottles corresponding to the measurement items are used as reagents. Equipped with a reagent bottle table that controls forward and reverse rotation for transport to the suction position.

The reagent in the reagent bottle is added to the reaction tube after predetermined operations and undergoes a chemical reaction with the sample, and the reaction state is measured using a colorimetric method or the like.

In the automatic analyzer described above, many types of reagents are stored on a reagent bottle table in order to measure various types of chemical components. On the other hand, since reagents are affected by temperature, it is necessary to accurately control the temperature of the reagent bottle table.
In particular, when using enzyme-based reaction reagents, it is necessary to strictly control the temperature at 2 to 10°C. However, the environmental temperature at the installation location of a typical automatic analyzer can reach 37° C., and storage of reagents in such an environment not only affects chemical reactions but also causes deterioration of the reagents.

Therefore, conventionally, as described above, a reagent bottle table cooling device has been used to cool the reagents stored on the reagent bottle table.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a conventional cooling device for a reagent bottle table. In FIG. 4, 52 is a reagent bottle table in which a plurality of reagent bottles 30 are stored.

The reagent bottle table 52 consists of a bottom plate, a side plate, and a cover, and is rotated in forward and reverse directions by the drive device 22 via the transmission device 56 about the shaft 50 . Reagent bottle table 5
A fixing plate 56 is provided below the reagent bottle table 52, and its outer edge overlaps a part of the side plate of the reagent bottle table 52 with a slight gap. Further, a plurality of openings 66 are provided in the bottom plate of the reagent bottle table 52 in the circumferential direction, and a plurality of openings 54 are similarly provided in the cover. The fixed plate 56 is provided with an inlet 58 for cooling air 62 and an outlet 60 for exhaust air 64. Note that the opening 54 is for sucking the reagent inside the reagent bottle 30. The reagent bottle table 52 is controlled to rotate in forward and reverse directions by the drive device 22, and the cooling air 62 enters the space 68 from the inlet 58 and flows through the plurality of openings 66 to the bottoms of the plurality of reagent bottles 30 arranged adjacently. The reagents in the reagent bottle 30 are cooled by the contact, and the cooling air 62 undergoes heat exchange and becomes exhaust air 64, which is discharged out of the system from the outlet 60.

In this way, the temperature of the reagent in the reagent bottle 30 stored on the reagent bottle table 52 is controlled.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve].

However, in the conventional cooling device for the reagent bottle table mentioned above, a reliable flow of cooling air is not formed and only the bottom of the reagent bottle is cooled, so a sufficient cooling effect cannot be obtained. Since it is difficult to seal the cooling air in the gap between the table and the fixed plate, there is a problem in that the amount of cooling air consumed increases.

The present invention solves these conventional problems,
Superior reagent bottle table cooling that creates a reliable passage of cooling air within the reagent bottle table to increase the cooling effect of the reagent bottles, facilitating accurate temperature control of reagents and reducing cooling air consumption. The purpose is to provide a device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a passage provided in a hollow part of a fixed shaft, and a passage adjacent to a reagent bottle table that rotates forward and backward around the fixed shaft. It consists of a passage formed by gaps between a plurality of arranged reagent bottles and a passage provided with an opening at the bottom of the reagent bottle table, and cooling air is made to flow through each passage in sequence.

[Function] The present invention has the following effects due to the above configuration. In other words, following the passage provided in the hollow part of the fixed shaft,
Since a passage consisting of gaps between a plurality of reagent bottles arranged adjacent to each other on the reagent bottle table and a passage formed by the opening at the bottom of the reagent bottle table are sequentially formed, the cooling air flows through each of the passages in sequence. The system cools the reagents and avoids local circulation and stagnation of cooling air, which significantly increases the cooling effect and allows the automatic analyzer to be installed in spite of changes in environmental temperature. Accurate temperature control of reagents can be easily performed. Furthermore, since a structure that would cause cooling air to leak is eliminated, it is possible to reduce the amount of cooling air consumed in addition to the above-mentioned cooling effect.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 12 denotes a fixed shaft provided at the center of the reagent bottle table 16. The fixed shaft 12 has a hollow portion 14, and the hollow portion 14 forms a passage 15. The reagent bottle table 16 has an annular shape with a cylindrical side plate 16a, a disc-shaped bottom plate 16b, and a cylindrical inner plate 16c.
It is pivoted on. An internal gear 18 is provided on the bottom plate 16b, and the reagent bottle table 16 is rotated intermittently around the fixed shaft 12 by forward and reverse rotation at required timings by controlling the forward and reverse rotation of the gear 20 and the meshing drive device 22. I do. The surrounding plate 26 surrounds the outer periphery of the reagent bottle table 16,
It consists of a side plate 26a, a bottom plate 26b, and a cover 34, and the bottom plate 26b is fastened to the fixed shaft 12 and used in a fixed manner.

A plurality of reagent bottles 30 are evenly stored radially in the reagent bottle table 16.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view taken along the line II in FIG. 1, and shows that a plurality of reagent bottles 30 are evenly stored radially between the side plate 16a and the inner plate 16C.

After the reagent bottle table 16 is rotated to move the reagent bottle 30 corresponding to the measurement item to a position near the pipette device (not shown), the pipette device dispenses the required amount of reagent from the reagent bottle 30. It is designed to be aspirated and dispensed into the corresponding reaction tube.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the reagent bottle 30, which is a reagent container with a fan-shaped width and a constant height, and has a suction port 31 with a screw at the top of the wide part, which can be used to aspirate reagents, etc. used for.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of reagent bottles 30 are evenly arranged radially adjacent to each other, so that passages 36 are formed in the gaps between the reagent bottles 30. moreover,
A passage 32 is formed by providing a plurality of openings 31 in the bottom plate 16b. A cooling air generator 45 is provided outside the reagent bottle table 16 , and the cooling air enters the fixed shaft prosthesis end 40 through a tube 46 , flows downward from the passage 15 through the passage 34 at the top of the reagent bottle 30 and into the passage 36 . The air flows uniformly through the passage 38 from the outlet end 42 provided on the bottom plate 26b and enters the cooling air generator 45 through the pipe 48 as exhaust air, and after releasing heat, is used again as cooling air.

The cooling air thus flows successively through the passages 15, 34, 36, 32 and 38, and in the passage 36 it exerts a cooling effect on the reagent through the wall of the reagent bottle 30, and the heated discharge air is circulated. or stay in the reagent bottle 30
Since the cooling air is always in contact with and flowing through, the cooling effect can be significantly increased, and despite changes in the environmental temperature at the location where the automatic analyzer is installed, the Accurate temperature control of reagents can be easily performed by using the omitted cooling air temperature control device.

In addition, since the cooling air flows through the passages formed inside the sealed enclosure, there is no leakage to the outside air, resulting in a remarkable cooling effect and a reduction in cooling air consumption. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption of the cooling air generator. It goes without saying that the form of the cooling air passage used in the present invention is not limited to that of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, there is provided a reagent bottle table for use in an automatic analyzer capable of multi-purpose and multi-item measurements such as biochemical analysis, immunological analysis, blood drug test analysis, and electrolyte analysis. In this cooling device, the cooling effect can be significantly increased, accurate temperature control of reagents can be easily performed, and energy consumption for generating cooling air can also be reduced.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the problems of temperature control, promptness, and
It has excellent effects in terms of accuracy and simplicity of structure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings are explanatory diagrams of a cooling device for a reagent bottle table according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a reagent bottle, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional cooling device for a reagent bottle table. 12... Fixed shaft 14... Hollow part 16
・・・Reagent bottle table

Claims (1)

[Claims] A passage provided in the hollow part of the fixed shaft, a passage consisting of gaps between a plurality of reagent bottles arranged adjacent to each other on a reagent bottle table that rotates forward and backward around the fixed shaft, and an opening at the bottom of the reagent bottle table. 1. A cooling device for a reagent bottle table, characterized in that the cooling air is sequentially passed through each of the passages.