JP2000105240A - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically close preparative ports of all the reagent bottles with a simple and inexpensive mechanism requiring no large space, by automatically controlling a lid part using an extensible plunger built in a reagent table rotating shaft, and by forming or eliminating a gap between the preparative port of the reagent bottle and the lid part. SOLUTION: A reagent box cover 70 is mounted on a device body cover or a reagent box 22 to suspend a cover supporting frame 701. An elastic packing material 703 is bonded to a cover lid 702, and the packing material 703 pressedly abuts to a reagent preparative port 21a to be blocked in a condition where the cover 702 is lowered. A plunger 28 and a plunger driving mechanism 29 are disposed in a reagent table 20 side opposing to a reagent box cover side, and a tip of the plunger 28 abuts to a plunger pressingly abutting part 70a when the plunger 28 is extended. The cover lid 702 is also moved vertically interlocking with vertical motion of the plunger 28 to form a closely contacting condition and a spaced condition for the port 21a of the packing material 703.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer capable of easily closing each reagent bottle inlet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional automatic analyzer is disclosed in
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 050 (see Fig. 6), the reagent table has a structure that can be operated vertically in the mechanical direction. When the device is in use, the reagent table is lowered and the reagent bottle dispensing port is separated from the reagent container cover, whereby the reagent table can be rotated. Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-94624, an automatic analyzer is provided with an opening and closing mechanism for the cap after using an integrated one for each reagent bottle instead of a cover for covering the entire reagent storage, so that a reagent The opening and closing of the intake was performed automatically. Recently, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-73703, the front and back sides of a reagent storage cover are utilized, and a user of the apparatus manually selects a reagent storage cover installation surface and opens and closes a reagent bottle dispensing port. There is also.

[0003]

However, in each of the above-mentioned prior arts, the mechanism for moving the reagent table up and down and the mechanism for opening and closing the cap are complicated and elaborate, so that the manufacturing cost is high. Therefore, it is necessary to secure space for installation. In addition, although the reagent storage cover is cheaper than the one using a complicated mechanism, it requires manual selection and installation and selection of the reagent storage cover surface. Can happen.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to focus on raising and lowering the reagent storage cover itself, and to save the trouble of the user of the apparatus by installing a simple and inexpensive mechanism which does not take up space, and to reduce the trouble of the reagent table. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzer capable of automatically closing the sampling ports of all the reagent bottles installed in the apparatus.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a specimen table, a reagent table, a rotating axis of a reagent table, a reagent storage cover, a reaction container table, and the like.
In an automatic analyzer provided with a sample sampling mechanism and a reagent sampling mechanism, a support for suspending a reagent storage cover on a main body cover, and a lid movable in a direction perpendicular to a cover surface using the support as a guide. And consisting of
This lid is automatically pushed up or down by a retractable plunger built in the reagent table rotating shaft to avoid or push up, thereby forming or eliminating a gap between the reagent bottle dispensing port and the lid as appropriate. Thus, the rotatable state of the reagent table and the reagent bottle closed state can be realized respectively.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the components of an automatic analyzer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic explanatory sectional views of a reagent table, a reagent storage cover, a reagent storage cover and a reagent according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view of a chamber cover up-down mechanism, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a reagent chamber cover having an air layer having a heat insulating effect according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. The figure is shown.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a sample table, 10
1 is a sample bottle, 20 is a reagent table, 21 is a reagent bottle, 30 is a reaction vessel table, 301 is a reaction vessel, 40
Is a sample sampling mechanism, 50 is a reagent sampling mechanism, 60 is a detection device, 80 is a data output device, and 61 is a CP.
U and 401 are sample probes, 501 is a reagent probe, 7
Reference numeral 0 denotes a reagent storage cover, and reference numeral 90 denotes an automatic analyzer main body cover.

As shown in FIG. 1, a sample such as blood or urine contained in a sample bottle 101 is set on a sample table 10.
After being rotationally moved to a position where the sample sampling mechanism 40 can take out the sample, the sample table 401 is sampled by the sample probe 401.
From 0, a fixed amount is dispensed to the reaction vessel 301 on the reaction vessel table 30. A reagent bottle 21 required for each analysis measurement is opened and arranged at a designated position in the reagent table 20, and a reagent is dispensed into a reaction container 301 by a reagent probe 501 of a reagent sampling mechanism 50 according to an analysis item. Mixed. The physical quantity such as the absorbance and the potential of the mixed liquid is detected by the detection device 60, and the CPU 61 performs an arithmetic process, and displays the analysis result via the data output device 80.

In such an automatic analyzer, the reliability of the analysis result is required, and the reagent storage 22 is cooled in many cases in order to prevent the deterioration of the reagent due to the temperature change during a long time installation. A reagent storage cover 70 is attached for the purpose of keeping the reagent storage 22 cool and preventing foreign substances such as dust from entering the reagent bottle from the opened reagent bottle dispensing opening 21a.

Each reagent in the reagent bottle is stored in a reagent table 20.
When the reagent table 20 is rotated and transferred to a position 70b where the reagent can be collected by the reagent probe 501,
There should not be any guilty of contact between the reagent storage cover 70 and the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a.

However, such a reagent bottle dispensing port 21
The presence of the gap between the “a” and the reagent storage cover 70 may be caused by the evaporation of the reagent water when the reagent is set in the analyzer and the reagent bottle is always open and the apparatus is not used for a long time, such as during a holiday or during late working hours. As a result, there is a possibility that reagent characteristics may be degraded due to the concentration, contamination / proliferation of microorganisms, dissipation of volatile substances into the air, melting of oxygen or carbon dioxide in the air, and the reagent may not be used. When the apparatus is not used for a long time, the reagent bottles 21 may be plugged and sealed each time. However, if a plurality of reagent bottles 21 are plugged each time, the user of the apparatus is troublesome. Feel

As a method for solving this problem, as shown in FIG. 5, when the apparatus shifts to the non-use state, the reagent table 20 is raised and the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a is brought into close contact with the packing material surface of the reagent storage cover 70. A mechanism for causing this to occur has been devised.

However, in this method, since a heavy mechanism including a full reagent table is lifted, a number of mechanical elements such as a high-output torque power machine are required, the manufacturing cost is increased, and furthermore, a mechanism for incorporating the mechanism is required. Since space is also required, it is difficult to reduce the size of the device.

As shown in FIG. 6, a method has been devised in which the front and back shapes of the reagent storage cover 70 are used to seal the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a, which is inexpensive in terms of cost. It is troublesome to select and install the front and back, which may cause human error.

2 and 3, a basic outline of an embodiment of the present invention is shown in a sectional view. 22 is a reagent storage, 23 is a reagent table rotating shaft, 24 is a large pulley, 25 is a small pulley, 26
, A belt; 27, a motor; 28, a plunger; 29, a plunger drive mechanism;
2 is a reagent storage cover lid, 703 is a packing material, 704 is a cover handle, 70a is a plunger pressing portion, 70b is a reagent probe insertion opening, 70c is a reagent storage cover outer peripheral projection, and 70d is a reagent storage cover support frame inner peripheral groove. It is. The reagent bottles 21 required for the analysis are arranged side by side on the reagent table 20,
The reagent table 20 is fixed to a reagent table rotation shaft 23. Power of motor 27 is small pulley 25, belt 2
6, transmitted to the rotating shaft 23 via the large pulley 24, the reagent bottle 21 rotates around the shaft, and the reagent storage cover 70
Of the reagent probe 501 at the position of the reagent probe insertion port 70b
Is used to separate the reagent.

In FIG. 2, the reagent storage cover 70 is composed of a cover support frame 701, a cover lid 702, a packing material 703, and a handle 704, and is supported on the apparatus body cover 90 or the reagent storage 22. Frame 70
1 is installed by suspending. The cover lid 702 can move in the cover support frame 701 in a certain range in the vertical direction in the figure.
Can drop to the lower end due to its own weight. An elastic packing material 703 is attached to the cover lid 702, and when the cover lid 702 is lowered, the packing material 703 is pressed against the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a and can be closed.

A plunger 28 and a plunger drive mechanism 29 for vertically extending and retracting the plunger 28 are provided on the reagent table side opposite to the reagent storage cover side.
When the extension 8 is extended, the tip of the plunger 28 is pressed against the plunger pressing portion 70a of the cover lid 702. Therefore, the cover lid 702 can also move up and down in conjunction with the vertical movement of the plunger 28, so that the packing material 703 can be in close contact with the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a and can have a gap.

The vertical movement of the plunger drive mechanism 29 is controlled by the CPU 61 so that the reagent table 20 of the automatic analyzer operates frequently, that is, between the packing material 703 and the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a during the analysis operation. , A reagent table 20 can be freely rotated, and conversely, in a standby or stopped state,
The packing material 703 is brought into close contact with the reagent bottle inlet 21a.
In this way, the flow of air can be suppressed, and an operation equivalent to attaching / detaching the reagent bottle cap can be performed instantaneously.

Focusing on the shape of the reagent storage cover 70, since the cover lid 702 has a disk shape, the cover lid 702 is rotated with respect to the cover support frame 701 while moving up and down. The insertion port 70b moves to an unexpected position. Therefore, in order to suppress the inadvertent rotational movement of the cover lid 702 with respect to the cover support frame 701, a plurality of grooves 70d cut in the vertical direction are provided in the cover support frame 701 at a plurality of positions as shown in FIG. A projection 70c that fits into the groove is provided, and the cover lid 702 moves up and down using the combination of the groove and the projection as a guide.

For the reagent bottle 21 corresponding to the position of the reagent probe insertion port 70b, the cover lid 70
2 simply moves up and down, the reagent bottle inlet 21a
Cannot be closed. Therefore, the protruding groove 70d, the protrusion 7
By setting the groove direction of 0c at a specific angle with respect to the vertical direction of the cover surface, the cover lid 702 performs a movement including rotation when the cover lid 702 moves up and down, in other words, a torsional up and down movement. Therefore, when the cover lid 702 is at the top dead center position, the reagent probe insertion port 70b and the reagent bottle dispensing port 21a are matched, and when the cover lid 702 is moved to the bottom dead center position, the reagent probe insertion port 70b and the reagent Bottle dispenser 21
If the position of “a” is shifted and the groove angle is set so that the packing material 703 is pressed, all of the packing material 70 is pressed.
At 3, all reagent bottles 21 can be closed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment to which the present invention is further applied. 4, reference numeral 705 denotes an exterior cover, 706 denotes a spring, 707 denotes a ball roller, 708 denotes a flexible cover, and 901 denotes a fastener in addition to the name shown in FIG. In the structure of the reagent storage cover 70, an outer cover 705 is attached so as to cover the cover support frame 701, and a spring 706 is fixed to the back surface. The spring 706
A ball-shaped roller 707 is embedded in the other end of the cover 702, and constantly presses the upper surface of the cover lid 702. And ball 70
7 rolls freely on the pressing surface, so that the cover lid 702
Can smoothly twist up and down. Since the reagent storage cover 70 has the spring 706 incorporated therein, the plunger 2
If it is pushed up by 8, there is a possibility that it will rise from the apparatus main body. Therefore, the reagent storage cover 70 is held and fixed by the fastener 901 installed on the apparatus main body cover 90.

As described above, since the reagent storage cover is constituted by the two plates of the outer cover 705 and the cover lid 702, a space is provided between them. Due to the existence of the hollow portion, the heat insulating effect between the reagent storage 22 and the outside world is:
It is higher compared to a single reagent storage cover. The flexible cover 708 is provided to prevent air from flowing through the hollow portion of the probe insertion port 70b. In addition, the presence of the outer cover 705 prevents the user from touching the cover lid 702 in a state where the cover is installed in the apparatus, so that the safety of the user is taken into consideration.

[0023]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic analyzer having a reagent tank capable of closing all the reagent bottle dispensing openings by automatic control, which is simple and inexpensive without any troublesome user of the apparatus. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an outline of components of an automatic analyzer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view illustrating the reagent table of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a reagent storage cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view illustrating a reagent storage cover having an air layer having a heat insulating effect according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view illustrating a conventional reagent table.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view illustrating a conventional reagent table.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: sample table, 20: reagent table, 21: reagent bottle, 21a: reagent bottle dispensing port, 22: reagent storage, 2
3 ... rotary shaft, 24 ... large pulley, 25 ... small pulley, 26 ...
Belt, 27 ... motor, 28 ... plunger, 29 ... plunger drive mechanism, 30 ... reaction vessel table, 40 ... sample sampling mechanism, 50 ... reagent sampling mechanism, 60
... Detection device, 61 ... CPU, 70 ... Reagent storage cover, 70
a: plunger pressing portion, 70b: reagent probe insertion port, 70c: projection on the outer surface of the reagent storage cover, 70d: groove on the inner surface of the support frame of the reagent storage cover, 70e: outer lid of the reagent storage cover,
70f: inner lid of reagent storage cover, 80: data output machine, 90
... Analyzer cover, 101 ... Sample bottle, 30
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reaction container, 401 ... Sample probe, 501 ... Reagent probe, 701 ... Reagent storage cover support frame, 702 ... Reagent storage cover lid, 703 ... Packing material, 704 ... Cover handle, 705 ... Outer cover, 706 ... Spring, 707 ... ball-shaped roller, 708 ... flexible cover, 901 ... fastener.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiromichi Sato 1040 Ichimo Ichimo, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inside Hitachi Science Systems Co., Ltd. Within Science Systems (72) Inventor Kahei Shiraishi 1040, Ichimo, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki F-term within Hitachi Science Systems, Ltd. (Reference) 2G058 BB12 BB15 CB04 CD04 CE08 CF02 CF11 EA02 EA04 GA01 GA11 HA01

Claims (4)

[Claims] A sample table for setting / holding and transferring a sample to a sorting position; a reagent table for setting / holding a reagent bottle and transferring to a sorting position; a reagent table rotating shaft for rotating the reagent table; A reagent chamber cover that covers the table, a reaction vessel table that qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the mixed solution of these samples and reagents, and an automatic sample sampling mechanism that dispenses and dispenses samples and reagents, and an automatic system that has a reagent sampling mechanism In the analyzer, the reagent storage cover is constituted by a support portion installed on the device main body cover, and a lid portion movable with the support portion as a guide in a direction perpendicular to the cover surface. Has a built-in plunger that expands and contracts in and out of the axis, and automatically controls the instrument when the automatic analyzer is operating. When the plunger is extended and the lid of the reagent storage cover is pushed up, a gap is formed between the reagent bottle dispensing port and the lid to enable the rotation operation of the reagent table. An automatic analyzer comprising a reagent bottle dispensing port automatic closing mechanism for separating a plunger from a lid part, moving a lid surface to a reagent bottle side, and pressing and sealing the bottle dispensing port. 2. A structure according to claim 1, further comprising: a supporting portion suspended from the cover of the main body of the automatic analyzer, wherein the reagent storing cover incorporated in the supporting portion has a double structure of an outer cover and an inner cover. The outer lid of the reagent storage cover is fixed to the support portion, while the inner lid is movable in a direction perpendicular to the cover surface, and a hollow space is provided between the outer lid and the inner lid. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1. In the reagent storage cover, a groove and a projection are provided in combination on the support and the lid so that the lid does not inadvertently rotate with respect to the support, and the projection guides the groove. 2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising a reagent storage cover having a movable lid. 4. The reagent storage cover according to claim 1, wherein the groove and the projection are provided so as to have a specific angle of inclination with respect to a perpendicular to the surface of the cover, and support the lid when the lid moves far (up and down) with respect to the reagent bottle. All reagent bottle inlets can be closed by moving in the rotation direction with respect to the part, and transiting to a state where the reagent probe insertion port provided on the lid and the reagent bottle inlet position match or mismatch. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein