FR2795089A1 - Device for microbiological research or analysis has parallel-pipe shaped container with indentations for incubation chambers, and cover to be held in either closed or semi-open position - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for microbial research having a parallel-pipe shaped container with indentations for receiving incubation chambers and a cover that can be held in either a closed or semi-open position, is new. A device for microbial research having a parallel-pipe shaped container with indentations for receiving incubation chambers and a cover that can be held in either a closed or semi-open position, is new. The container may have a claw selectively engaging one of two claws on the cover to determine its position. Each indentation is divided in two by a wall that does not extend the full height of the indentation. Each indentation includes a device for securing a culturing device and a place for a device diffusing a particular atmosphere. Some of the indentations and covers have openings so they line up when the containers are stacked.

Description

<B> DEVICE </ B> CONTROL <B> AND </ B> REGULATION OF ATMOSPHERE <B> THEN <B> OF </ B> MICROBIOLOGICAL CROPS <B> AND </ B> / <B> OR CHEMICAL TESTS </ B>. The present invention relates to a device for not only collecting several microbiological culture media, chemical or biochemical tests, but also to control the atmosphere of these media. This device concerns the field of laboratory equipment for research and biological and / or chemical analyzes.

The microbiological analysis of a sample of human, animal or industrial origin requires the implementation of practical amplification methods ...

These methods consist of inoculating the sample on a rich and / or selective culture medium in order to allow the multiplication of potentially existing germs. After an incubation period of one or more days at predetermined temperatures, multiplication of each gene gives rise to a colony visible to the naked eye.

Thus, the operator can appreciate, count and identify with the naked eye the microbiological composition of the sample.

In a presumptive or identifying search, the microbiologist uses a series of different culture media containing specific growth or inhibition factors. It is often necessary to use -3, 4, 5 to see 6 different backgrounds.

To date, for performing a biological culture or biochemical tests is used at least one culture dish containing a nutrient medium, such as petri dish, and / or several test tubes. The handling of these equipment being tedious and restrictive, devices for biochemical characterization and / or microbiological culture have been developed.

The state of the art particularly highlights three devices patented under the numbers EP-A-0 337 907, DE-A-1933 333 and finally the French patent N 2 686 618.

The first of these patents concerns simultaneous aerobic and anaerobic culture boxes of microorganisms comprising a tray and a cover of transparent material, the tray being divided into several compartments by partitions having an equal height, or for some of them lower than that of the side walls; the cover having on its inner side ribs cooperating with the upper partitions and / or the side walls to delimit a group of sealed compartments for crops anaerobles.

DE-A-1,933,333 discloses a multi-cup receptacle for containing biological media and comprising a bottom provided with surfaces forming a series of cups for receiving biological media; the lid being arranged to form an individual lid for each cup thus forming as many separate and closed compartments.

The last patent, published under No. 2,686,618 relates to a device for biochemical characterization and / or culture of bacteria and / antibiogram and / or simultaneous chemical tests in different atmospheres.

This device is based on the combination of a housing, consisting of a base and a cover, with grooves or ribs and pads or wedges to delineate isolated areas respectively anaerobic or controlled atmosphere and aerobic. This device consists of a single box, carved so as to reveal various compartments.

However, to our knowledge, there is no device in the prior art for receiving and grouping several individual culture dishes and / or chemical tests, said boxes having the possibility of being closed at the convenience of the manipulator in a permeable manner (or semi-open) or impermeable (closed) in order to control the atmosphere.

The accompanying drawings show the various elements of the invention as well as a way in which they can cooperate. These drawings are given by way of example and are in no way limiting.

Figure I shows the box according to the invention in perspective.

Figure II corresponds to the support housing for the grouping of several boxes seen from above, and Figure III corresponds to the same housing but in cross section a) and longitudinal b).

Figure IV shows the cover of the previously mentioned housing.

Figure V is a cross section of the device illustrating the manner in which the box and the housing cooperate, while Figure VI shows the principle of clipping the lid on the housing.

Figure VII shows the principle of cooperation between several stages of pallet to ensure several stable atmospheres, while Figure VIII shows how two housings are clipped on one another. Figure IX illustrates an example of possible stacking of various pallets, as well as the different areas of atmospheres that can be isolated.

Figure X shows another type of housing, or pallet, considered by the applicant.

The device consists of a box, Figure I, is advantageously in a rectangular shape and with a dimension of 6 cm plus or minus 1 cm x 4 cm plus or minus 1 cm; this dimension having the following three advantages: a small footprint, a low amount of necessary medium and easy seeding. It is obvious that this embodiment is in no way unique, but just corresponds to an implementation envisaged by the inventors.

The walls of this box are beveled (1), oriented inwardly so that the bottom surface of the box is less than the surface defined by the top of the box.

This box has a lug (3) all around the wall and at the top of the outer face, this in order to facilitate attachment to a support.

This box has on one of these sides an incurvation (5) inward over its entire height. The other element of the invention consists of a box or pallet, FIG. II and III, of parallelepipedal shape, having several imprints (7), each imprint being intended to receive the boxes according to the invention. To do this, the walls of these cavities are bevelled so as to adapt to the walls of the boxes and have a height greater than the height of the walls of the boxes. The device according to the present invention is characterized by the beveled shape of the cavities co-operating with the beveled shape of the culture boxes of angle greater than that of the bevel of the impressions in order to wedge the culture boxes in the bottom of the case. , it was provided a notch (9) substantially greater than the width of the lug of the box (3) so that it can be clipped between these two lugs to ensure the attachment of the box in the bottom of the support. This notch can be indifferently on any wall of the footprint. The invention therefore relates to a device which is characterized in that the cavities of the housing have a device for anchoring culture boxes.

Each of the spaces defined by these footprints are divided in two by a wall of the same height as the wall of the boxes, (11) that is to say lower than the hollow edges of the footprint. This wall makes it possible to arrange two boxes according to the invention face to face with an air circulation between them because of the lower height of the central wall relative to the other edges. The invention therefore relates to a device characterized in that the impressions are divided into two spaces by a lower wall height than the walls of the housing.

In the middle of this wall, it has been advantageously provided a location, pad or column (13) for receiving a patch or other device for diffusing and ensuring a specific atmosphere. As a result, the two boxes facing each other are in the same controlled atmosphere. The present invention therefore envisages a device characterized in that the wall delimiting the spaces in each cavity accommodates a location intended to receive a specific atmosphere diffusion device. Advantageously, the housing may contain a central location for identification by any means of the kit.

Unfinished holes may contain decoys on which technical indications may appear on the kit used.

The pallet can be made in different colors to facilitate quick identification.

The symmetry of the assembly allows a perfect superposition of pallets during storage, pre-seeding and incubation in an oven. The user thus has all the necessary media with a saving of space.

It has been provided a cover for the housings, which is drawn in Figure IV.

 The present invention therefore relates to an atmosphere regulating device which is characterized in that it consists on the one hand of a parallelepiped shaped casing having impressions intended to receive seed boxes, and of on the other hand a lid, these two elements being provided with a fixing device to ensure closure in two positions "semi-open or" closed ".

The housing has a lug (15) all around the wall and at the top of the outer face, and also another lug (17) located lower on the same wall.

The cover has two lugs (19) located on the inner face of the side walls and spaced from each other by a distance slightly greater than the width 1 of the lug 15. These lugs cooperate with each other. other so as to ensure closure of the housing with two possible positions. "closed" or "semi-open".

The present invention therefore relates to a device characterized in that said fixing device is in the form of a fixed lug located either on the outer face of the side walls of the housing or the lid, cooperating respectively with two other lugs located on the inner face of the cover or on the outer faces of the side walls of the housing, said lugs interlocking to ensure closure in two positions "semi-open" or "closed.

When the housing is closed, Figure VI a), the lid is fully pressed, the lugs 19 of the cover clipping between the lug 17 and the upper lug 15 of the housing. The perfect seal of the housing with its lid is provided by the lug 15 which rests directly on the bottom of the lid and which also holds the lid. It may be envisaged to coat this pin of any contiguous material. Thus the atmosphere prevailing inside the housing is only related to the products introduced into it.

In semi-open position, Figure VI b), the lugs 19 of the cover engage on either side of the lug 15 of the housing which here has only a lid retaining role.

These housings and the covers respectively have two notches or grooves on the outer face of the bottom (21) and on the outer face of the cover (23), so as to allow stacking while respecting the symmetry of the organization of the culture boxes in each case, several boxes (Figure VII and VIII).

In one application of the invention, the applicant envisages a device characterized in that the cavities are divided into two spaces by a wall of lower height than the walls of the housing.

Another characteristic, FIG. 1, II, III and V, of the invention consists of orifices, of small size and of any shape (25) passing right through the bottom of the housings. On some covers, orifices at the same level have been envisaged (26), so that the atmosphere created in an imprint can be propagated through these holes to the footprint of the stacked box on top and screwed to screw.

Figure VII is a diagram showing the principle of these housings, in this drawing, only the communication ports (25 and 26) are shown, the footprints for the boxes are not drawn.

When stacking a housing provided with these orifices, this allows a flow between the two stages, and ensures the same atmosphere between the boxes of each box (stages 2 and 3 of FIG. VII). To obtain different atmospheres, it suffices to overcome the lower housing either by a cover without orifice, or by a housing devoid of communication ports (stages 1 and 2 of FIG. VII).

Fig. IX illustrates an exemplary mounting (cross-section) that can be readily achieved in accordance with the present invention. We have five housings on five different floors. In this drawing, it has been envisaged to have three different atmospheres (each atmosphere being represented by a different gray portion), an operation made easy by a specific arrangement of the housings.

One intended use is a fast, reliable diagnostic kit that limits contamination problems. For this, it is envisaged to have a range of boxes according to the invention containing different seeding media according to the tests to be performed. Each box would be hermetically sealed by a sealed operculum. In use, the manipulator has only tear the lid, arrange the boxes in the housing at its convenience and according to the analysis to be performed and the various atmospheres necessary for each test.

This allows a great freedom and flexibility of use while limiting as much as possible the quality problems related to potential or awkward contaminations during handling.

In addition, if one of the boxes is contaminated, simply remove it from the box and replace it. It is no longer necessary to discard the whole crop, which saves a lot of time and money.

In another embodiment of the atmosphere regulating device according to the present invention, the applicant envisages that the boxes are an integral part of the support pallet, so as to ensure a direct seeding, and that the covers are fixed on the walls of the support. In this case, the seeding is done directly in the bottom of the cavities of the housing.

During indirect seeding, the sterile prepared carrier media are opened, seeded and placed on the pallet. In contrast, during direct seeding, the culture media are poured directly into the bottom of the pallet, and are subsequently seeded.

The device described can be made in a multitude of different versions, in a multitude of colors, materials, shapes, ..., different and very modest costs. In addition to the many advantages mentioned above, the media clip-on system on a pallet makes it possible to prepare specific kits on demand for a particular affection, a particular habit, a particular country, and even allows the end user, for example the hospital practitioner, to compose his own palette according to his own needs and using the number of environments strictly necessary.

Claims (11)

<U> CLAIMS </ U> 1) Atmosphere control device characterized in that it consists on the one hand of a parallelepiped-shaped casing (0) having cavities (7) intended to receive seed boxes (Fig. I), and on the other hand a lid (Fig. IV), these two elements being provided with a fixing device to ensure closure in two positions "semi-open" or "closed". 2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said fixing device is in the form of a fixed pin (19) located either on the outer face of the side walls of the housing or the cover, cooperating respectively with either two other pins (15,17) located on the inner face of the cover or r is on the outer faces of the side walls of the housing, said lugs (15,17,19) interlocking to ensure closure in two positions "semi "open" or "closed". 3) Device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the indentations (7) are divided into two spaces by a wall (11) of lower height than the walls of the housing (0). 4) Device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the wall (11) defining the spaces in each cavity (7) accommodates a location (13) for receiving a specific atmosphere diffusion device. 5) Device according to claims 1 and 3, characterized in that the imprints (7) of the housing (0) have a device for anchoring the culture boxes. 6) Device according to claim 4, characterized by the beveled shape of the cavities (7) cooperating with the beveled shape of the culture boxes (2) of angle greater than that of the bevel of the cavities (7) in order to wedge the boxes of cultures (2) in the bottom of the housing (0). 7) Device according to claim 4 characterized by the presence of lugs (3) on the outer walls of the culture boxes (2) and a groove in the wall of the cavity (7) of the housing (0), these two elements cooperating to ensure the fixing of the boxes (2) in the housing (0). 8) Device according to claims 1 or 2, characterized by the presence of a member, said male (21) located either on the cover of the housing (4) or under the housing (0) which will engage on an element, said female (23) located respectively under the housing (0) or on the housing cover (4) for hermetically stacking the housings (0) on each other. 9) Device according to claims 1 to 3, characterized by the presence of a small hole (29) at the bottom of certain indentations (7) and on certain cover (4) providing communication between the different stage atmospheres depending on whether the manipulator has superimposed the housings (0) and covers (4) so that said orifices (29) are opposite or not. 10) Device according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the boxes (2), the housings (0) and the covers (4) are transparent or opaque material. 11) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized boxes (2) are integral with the support pallet (0), so as to ensure a direct seeding, and that the covers (4) are fixed on the walls of the support.