JP2000176317A - Automatic centrifugal separator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an unbalance to be generated in rotation of a rotor by enabling only a container for accomodating a sample to be carried into the rotor by providing an apparatus for measuring a physical quantity of the container before conveying into a bucket and providing a comparison means for comparing the physical quantity of the container with a previously determined reference value. SOLUTION: In the case of executing separation of a sample with a centrifugal separator 1, containers 4a, 4b for accomodating a sample are conveyed into buckets 5a, 5b of a rotor 3 by a conveying means 7. In this case, the containers 4a, 4b accomodating the sample are arranged in a state of sandwiching an empty container between them, and an unbalance is prevented from being generated to the rotor 3. In order to carry out such the operation without error, the container 4a conveyed by a conveying means 7 is firstly put on a gravimetric meter 8, a weight being a physical quantity of the container 4a is measured, and the weight is compared with a reference value. If the physical quantity is the reference value or smaller, control executed so as to interrupt the conveying operation by giving an alarm, or the like, and the rotor 3 or the like is prevented from being broken owing to the unbalance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic centrifugal separator provided with a conveying means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Automatic centrifuges are widely used in the fields of clinical examination, biochemistry, medicine, agriculture, engineering, pharmacy, etc., and are now indispensable for automation of blood tests in the clinical field. It has become. The automatic centrifugal separator includes a transfer unit (XY robot) having a hand mechanism capable of holding a container transferred through a transfer unit (transfer path) for transferring a container or the like containing a sample. The container sandwiched by the conveying means is automatically carried into a bucket which is swingably arranged on a rotor of the centrifuge, and after the centrifugation, the conveying means is returned again. Is controlled to automatically carry out the container in the bucket. Also, the automatic centrifuge, as a device other than the centrifuge,
A dispenser, a stirrer, and the like are arranged as a unit, and the automation of centrifugation is further achieved by combining these devices.

[0003]

When the centrifugal separation operation is performed by the above-mentioned automatic centrifugal separator, a pair of weight-balanced buckets arranged on the rotor and located at opposing portions each of which constitutes a pair. It is necessary to set each container (a container of almost the same weight). This is to prevent containers having different physical quantities from being placed in the respective buckets from causing imbalance during rotation of the rotor, thereby preventing damage to the rotor and the like. For this reason, when a container conveyed by the conveying means is carried into the opposing bucket, a confirmation means for grasping that the containers have substantially the same physical quantity is required.

[0004] As the checking means, as described in JP-A-7-80355 which discloses an automatic centrifugal separator equipped with a turntable for managing all containers accommodating a sample together, There is a means for measuring the weight of each container with a weighing scale. The weight information of the container measured for each container and the positional information on where the containers are arranged on the turntable are all stored by the storage means, and the weights are substantially the same based on these information. When a container is brought into an opposing bucket by creating a combination of containers, the turntable is rotated based on the above information, and a necessary one of the previously combined container group is transported using the transport means. are doing. As a result, containers having substantially the same weight are arranged in the opposing buckets.
Unbalance of the rotor can be prevented. However, as described above, the above-described means is a complicated control for managing the containers using the weight information of the containers measured for each container and the positional information on where the containers are arranged on the turntable. The need for a measure has resulted in high costs.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic centrifugal separator that can easily and surely carry only a container for accommodating a sample into a rotor, thereby preventing imbalance occurring when the rotor rotates. .

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic centrifugal separator having a rotor which is driven to rotate by a motor, and transport means for automatically loading or unloading a container capable of holding a sample from the rotor. Is achieved by providing a device for measuring the physical quantity of the container, and further comprising comparing means for comparing the physical quantity of the container with a predetermined reference value.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An automatic centrifugal separator according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a centrifugal separator 1 includes a motor 2 as a drive source, a shaft for transmitting rotational power of the motor 2, a rotor 3 engaged with the shaft and integrally rotating, and a swinging motion of the rotor 3. Containers 4a, 4b (microplates) which are arranged so as to be able to store samples
And a pair of buckets 5a and 5b
a centrifugal separator 1 is provided with a turntable for storing the containers 4a and 4b. Transfer means (XY robot) 7 having a hand mechanism capable of holding the container on the turntable;
An apparatus 8 is provided for measuring the physical quantity of the containers 4a, 4b before carrying the containers 4a, 4b held by the transport means into the buckets 5a, 5b. In the automatic centrifugal separator, for example, a dispensing device or a stirrer is arranged around the turntable as a device other than the centrifugal separator 1 in order to improve the automation of the centrifugal separation operation.

Here, the operation of each device in the automatic centrifugal separator will be described. First, a plurality of same-shaped containers 4a and 4b containing the same amount of samples prepared in advance by an operator on the turntable are arranged on the circumference at equal intervals. At the time of arranging the containers 4a and 4b, for example, the container 4a for accommodating the sample is the container arrangement location (A).
If it is arranged at a point, an empty container is always arranged at the adjacent container arrangement position (B), and the container 4b for accommodating the sample is arranged at the adjacent container arrangement position (C). That is, an empty container is always arranged at the container arrangement position located next to the containers 4a and 4b accommodating the samples. Thus, container 4
The reason why the containers a and 4b and the empty containers are alternately arranged is that the supernatants and the like during the centrifugation process are used for the containers 4a and 4
This is because there is a case where the liquid is transferred from b to an empty container using a dispensing device and used. For this reason, in order to efficiently perform the centrifugal separation operation, it is necessary for the operator to perform the arrangement work with great care so as not to mistakenly arrange the container holding the sample and the empty container on the turntable. Was. In addition, the containers 4a and 4b for accommodating the samples and the empty container are respectively provided with a mark or the like at each container arrangement location so that the operator can easily perform the arrangement work. Note that the container containing the sample and the empty container have the same shape.

The group of containers to be accommodated arranged on the turntable is held by the hand mechanism of the transfer means 7 and can be swung by the rotor 3 of the centrifuge 1 in order to separate the sample by the centrifuge 1. Bucket 5a,
The work of loading the sample into 5b is performed, and the sample is centrifuged. When the operator correctly arranges each container on the turntable, the first container 4 for accommodating the sample arranged at a position to be clamped by the hand mechanism of the transfer means 7.
The transporting operation of the container a is performed, and subsequently, the container at the point where the adjacent container has been skipped from the container 4a that has been clamped earlier is clamped and transported into the bucket. That is, the rotation of the turntable is controlled so as to arrange the container at the position where the one-unit container has been skipped to the position to be held by the hand mechanism. Such rotation control is performed because, as described above, the containers 4a and 4b for accommodating the samples are arranged with one empty container interposed therebetween. However, if the operator mistakenly places each container on the turntable, that is, an empty container is placed next to the container 4a containing the sample, and an empty container is placed next to the empty container. In the case where the container 4a and the empty container are transported into the bucket in the former case, the rotor 3 is rotated. As a result, the rotor 3 becomes unbalanced, which causes a problem that the rotor 3 is damaged, and in the latter case, the sample is not contained in the container, so that a wasteful operation is performed. There is a possibility that the work efficiency may be reduced.

Therefore, the containers to be transported are placed in buckets 5a,
Before being loaded into the container 5b, the physical quantity of the container, for example, the weight, is measured by the device 8 provided during the transfer process, and if the weight of the container is above a certain reference value, the container is loaded into the buckets 5a, 5b. If the weight of the container is below a certain reference value, the work of loading the container into the buckets 5a and 5b is interrupted. That is, when the containers 4a and 4b are carried into the rotor 3, first, the door 6 is automatically opened by the transporting means 7, and then the container 4a transported by the transporting means 7 is placed on, for example, the weighing scale 8, and the containers 4a Is measured, and the reference value stored in the control system and the weight are compared by the detecting means. Here, the reference value is set in advance to a value smaller than the weight (physical quantity) of the container to be rotated and larger than the weight of the empty container. In addition, when the centrifugation is performed a plurality of times, since the amount of the reagent supplied to each container is also substantially the same, a plurality of reference values corresponding to the time in consideration of the amount of the reagent are stored in advance. . Therefore, the reference value stored in the control system is compared with the weight of the container by the detection means. If the value is less than the reference value, it is determined that the container is empty, and an alarm or error message is issued to the operator and the transfer operation is interrupted. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the rotor 3 and the like from being damaged due to imbalance.

From the above, it is possible to obtain an effect that only a container for accommodating a sample can be carried into the rotor 3 by simple means. It is also possible to use a capacitance sensor other than the weight.

[0012]

According to the present invention, an apparatus for measuring the physical quantity of a container is provided, and a comparing means for comparing the physical quantity of the container with a predetermined reference value is provided. It is possible to provide an automatic centrifugal separator that can be easily and reliably loaded into the rotor, thereby preventing imbalance that occurs when the rotor rotates.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of an automatic centrifugal separator according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is an automatic centrifuge, 2 is a motor, 3 is a rotor, 4a,
4b is a container, 5a and 5b are buckets, 6 is a door, 7 is a transport mechanism, and 8 is a weighing scale.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Sadato Igarashi 1060 Takeda, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki F-term within Hitachi Koki Engineering Co., Ltd. 2G045 BB10 FA05 GC07 GC17 HA04 JA06 JA07 JA08 2G058 BA06 CB08 CF16 GB08 GB10 GE03 GE10 4D057 AA03 AC01 AC05 AD01 AE11 AE13 BC05 BC11 BD00 CA00 CA04 CB01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic centrifugal separator comprising: a rotor rotatably driven by a motor; and transport means for automatically loading or unloading a container capable of accommodating a sample with respect to the rotor. Provide a device to measure,
An automatic centrifugal separator further comprising a detecting means for comparing the physical quantity of the container with a predetermined reference value. 2. The automatic centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the physical quantity is a total weight of the container and the sample. 3. The automatic centrifugal separator according to claim 1, wherein the physical quantity is a capacitance of the container and the sample. 4. The automatic centrifugal separator according to claim 1, wherein if the physical quantity is equal to or less than the reference value, an alarm or an error message is issued to interrupt the transfer operation.