JP2000335509A - Method for sealing micro plate, and automatic sealing device for micro plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent generation of troubles at the time of the stacking and the robot operation by correctly positioning a heat bonding film piece on an upper surface of a micro plate to be continuously fed, and pressing and heat- bonding it at a stroke to completely seal each small hole chamber in a short time, and prevent the film from being projected from its peripheral edge. SOLUTION: A long heat-bonding film F having the width not larger than the width of a micro plate M to be fed out of a film feed part 2 is cut into a heat-bonding film piece Fa of the length not larger than the length of the micro plate M in a cutter part 4, the forward feed of the micro plate M by a micro plate carriage part 7 is synchronized with the feed o the heat-bonding film F, and a forward edge Fr of the heat-bonding film piece Fa is heat-bonded to a forward edge of the micro plate M to be fed and temporarily fixed thereto. In a heat-press part 5, a whole surface of the heat-bonding film piece to cover a full opening of a large number of small hole chambers on an upper surface of the micro plate M is pressed and heat-bonded, and each small hole chamber is sealed in a single step.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microplate having a large number of small holes formed on the upper surface of a microplate, in which a liquid sample is dispensed into the small holes and arranged on the upper surface of the microplate. A method of sealing a microplate that covers the openings of a large number of small hole chambers with a thermal adhesive film, heats and presses the heat adhesive film to adhere to the opening edge of each small hole chamber, and seals each small hole chamber independently. The present invention relates to an automatic microplate sealing device that automatically executes the sealing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, liquid specimens (hereinafter referred to as liquid specimens) such as various liquid medicines and blood have been transported or vibrated.
A microplate M as shown in FIG. 2 is frequently used when performing a test / inspection by a method such as stirring or centrifugation. That is, the microplate M has a large number of small holes M
a is made of a synthetic resin in which an array is formed, and the same or various liquid samples are separately injected into each of the small hole chambers Ma, and the opening on the entire upper surface of the microplate M (the opening on the upper surface of each small hole chamber Ma) is formed. The microplate M is hermetically sealed by covering it with a heat-adhesive film piece Fa, and the liquid sample is transported to a test / inspection place. In this state, the liquid sample is vibrated and agitated or centrifuged. Therefore, in order to prevent the liquid sample from evaporating or mixing during the transportation and the test / inspection, each small hole chamber Ma
It is essential that they are completely sealed independently.

[0003] However, the conventional method of sealing such a microplate is to use a sealing film piece slightly larger than the width or length of the microplate (a sealing film coated with an adhesive on the back side, and taken on a substrate before use). (Which can be peeled off) is manually peeled off from the base material, and is adhered over the upper surface of the microplate.
It is extremely difficult to completely seal all the small holes, and it is likely that small holes are likely to leak out. ing. In addition, since the outer edge portion of the sealing film piece protrudes irregularly from the peripheral edge of the microplate, it is an obstacle to handling the microplate by a robot or stacking a large number of microplates.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is adapted to the top surface of the microplate without protruding from the periphery of the microplate in which the openings of the many small hole chambers are arranged. A large-sized heat-bonding film piece is cut out from a long-sized heat-bonding film raw material so that no chips are wasted, so that the heat-bonding film raw material is saved. It does not protrude from the periphery of the microplate so that it does not interfere with robot operation of the microplate or when stacking a large number of microplates. Position the heat-adhesive film correctly on the top of the plate and apply heat to the microplate by pressing and heating it at once. And an object thereof is to ensure that sealing at once each eyelet chamber in a very short processing time by bonding Irumu piece the opening edge of each eyelet chambers. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic sealing device that continuously performs a sealing process on a microplate in accordance with the above-described object.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a long thermal adhesive film having a width equal to or less than the width of a microplate. Cut out the thermal adhesive film piece less than the length, synchronize the forward feeding of the microplate and the supply and delivery of the long thermal adhesive film,
The leading edge of the heat-adhesive film is heat-bonded to the front edge of the microplate to be fed forward to temporarily fix the relative position between the upper surface of the microplate opening and the heat-adhesive film piece, and then a number of holes opened on the upper surface of the microplate By pressing and heating the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece covering the entire opening of the small hole chamber at a stroke, and bonding the thermal adhesive film piece to the opening edge of each small hole chamber of the microplate, each small hole chamber of the microplate is closed. Seal all at once.

At the same time, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention holds a microplate transport section for continuously advancing and returning a microplate, and a long thermal adhesive film having a width equal to or less than the width of the microplate. A film holding section, a film supply section for pulling out the leading edge of the thermal adhesive film, and sending out the leading edge of the thermal adhesive film. And a partial heater section for temporarily fixing the relative positions of the thermal adhesive film pieces, a cutter section for cutting out a thermal adhesive film piece having a length equal to or less than the length of the microplate from a long thermal adhesive film, and an upper surface of the microplate. The entire surface of the thermal adhesive film covering the openings of the arranged small-hole chambers is pressed and heated all at once, and the thermal adhesive film is placed in a microphone. An automatic microplate sealing device with a heating press unit that adheres to the opening edge of each small hole chamber of the plate, and a control and drive unit that synchronously controls the advancement of the microplate and the supply and delivery and cutting of the long thermal adhesive film. Is configured.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A basic embodiment of a method for sealing a microplate according to the present invention is directed to a microplate in which a number of small holes having an open upper surface are arrayed, and the microplate does not exceed the width of the microplate. Synchronously controls the supply and delivery of a long thermal adhesive film with a width equivalent to that width,
In a state where the leading edge of the long thermal adhesive film is placed on the leading edge of the microplate to be forwarded, the leading edge of the thermal adhesive film is heated and temporarily fixed to the leading edge of the microplate. At the same time, the sending out heat bonding film is cut into a heat bonding film piece by cutting to a length equal to the length of the micro plate without exceeding the length of the micro plate, and then the micro plate together with the heat bonding film piece is first cut. While feeding, cover the opening on the upper surface of the microplate with this thermal adhesive film piece, and press and heat the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece at a time in this state to adhere the thermal adhesive film piece to the opening edge of each of the small hole chambers. Then, each small hole chamber is sealed at once.

In a basic embodiment of the automatic microplate sealing device of the present invention, a microplate having a large number of small-hole chambers each having an open upper surface is removably placed thereon, and the microplate is moved forward and forward. A microplate transport section for feeding back, a film holding section for holding a long roll-type thermal adhesive film having a width equal to and not exceeding the width of the microplate, and a leading edge of the thermal adhesive film A film supply unit for drawing out and sending out, a partial heater unit for heating and placing the leading end edge of the thermal adhesive film on the leading edge of the microplate fed forward and temporarily fixing the leading edge to the leading edge of the microplate, Cut a piece of heat-adhesive film of the same length from the long heat-adhesive film without exceeding the length of the microplate. The entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece covering the openings of the small hole chambers arranged on the upper surface of the microplate that has been forward-fed is pressed and heated all at once to open the heat adhesive film pieces to the openings of the small hole chambers. A heating press unit for bonding to the edge, and a control / drive unit for synchronously controlling the timing of the forward feeding of the microplate and the feeding, feeding, and cutting of the long thermal adhesive film.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, an embodiment of a method for sealing a microplate and an automatic sealing device for the same according to the present invention will be described below. In FIGS. 1 to 3, M denotes a microplate formed of a synthetic resin, in which openings of a large number of small hole chambers Ma are arranged vertically and horizontally on the upper surface, and the upper part has a width W, a length L, and a height. It has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape of H. Needless to say, the width W, length L and height H of the microplate M
May vary depending on the required number and capacity of the small hole chambers Ma. In addition, Mc represents the opening edge of each small hole chamber Ma. F is a long thermal adhesive film, which is a well-known material and structure in which an aluminum foil and a synthetic resin film are laminated, and can be selectively used as a sticking (permanent sticking) film and a replacement film depending on the application. Fa is a thermal adhesive film piece cut out from the long thermal adhesive film F. The heat-bonding film piece Fa covers the opening on the entire upper surface of the microplate M (opening on the upper surface of each small hole chamber Ma), and is heated to heat the upper surface of the microplate M (in other words, each small hole chamber M).
a to the opening edge Mc). That is, after the various liquid samples are divided and injected into each of the small holes Ma, the openings on the entire upper surface of the microplate M (the small holes M
The small hole chambers Ma are completely sealed by thermally bonding a heat-adhesive film piece Fa to the opening edge Mc), and the liquid sample is conveyed in this state, and tests and inspections such as vibration, stirring, and centrifugation are performed. . In the present invention, the width Wf of the heat-bonding film piece Fa is set to be equal to the width W without exceeding the width W of the microplate M, and the length of the heat-bonding film piece Fa exceeds the length L of the microplate M. The length of the heat-bonding film piece Fa does not protrude from the peripheral edge of the microplate M and has the same size as the length L.

FIG. 1 shows the construction of the main part of an automatic sealing device for a microplate according to the present invention. The automatic sealing device comprises a film holding section 1, a film supply section 2, a film guide 3, Cutter section 4 and heating press section 5
And a partial heater section 6 attached to the heating press section 5, a microplate transport section 7, a control / drive section 8, and the like. The film holding unit 1 stores and holds a long thermal adhesive film F wound on a roll type.
The film supply unit 2 draws out the leading edge Fr of the long thermal adhesive film F from the film holding unit 1 and sends the leading edge Fr through the film guide 3. The microplate transport unit 7 detachably mounts the microplate M, and forwards the microplate M in the directions indicated by arrows A1 and A5 and returns the microplate M in the direction indicated by arrow A8. The cutter unit 4 cuts the long thermal adhesive film F sent from the film supply unit 2 in accordance with the length L of the microplate M to cut out the thermal adhesive film pieces Fa. The blade of the cutter unit 4 is a ceramic circle blade, and the cutter unit 4 is cut down in the direction indicated by the arrow A3 to perform a cutting operation, thereby cutting out a heat-bonded film piece Fa from the long heat-bonded film F. When the cutting is completed, the cutter unit 4 separates from the surface of the thermal adhesive film F as shown by an arrow A4, and the next thermal adhesive film piece F
Prepare for cutting out a. Further, the forward control of the microplate M, the transfer of the leading edge Fr of the long thermal adhesive film F, and the cutting timing of the thermal adhesive film piece Fa are synchronously controlled. That is, the film supply unit 2 feeds the long thermal adhesive film F by a pulse motor at a fixed length. The forward feeding process of the microplate M and the drawing out / feed of the leading edge Fr of the long thermal adhesive film F ( In the process of feeding out the thermal adhesive film piece Fa), the leading edge Fr of the thermal adhesive film F (the leading edge of the thermal adhesive film piece Fa) is synchronously positioned on the leading edge Mb of the microplate M to be fed forward. It is supposed to be.

The heating press section 5 presses and heats the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece Fa covering the entire opening of the upper surface of the microplate M which has been moved forward, and heats the thermal adhesive film piece F at once.
a is adhered to the opening edge Mc of each small hole chamber Ma. In the heating press section 5, a portion for pressurizing and heating the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece Fa on the upper surface of the microplate M is as follows:
It is made of soft silicone rubber with a heater embedded in it, and is moved up and down by an air cylinder 9 as shown by arrows A2, A6 and A7 to pressurize and heat the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece Fa. The press pressure, press time, and heating temperature can be set freely.

The partial heater 6 is mounted on the side of the heating press section 5, and as described above, the leading edge Fr of the thermal adhesive film F is synchronized with the transport of the microplate M which has been advanced and transported. When the partial heater 6 is positioned above the leading edge Mb of the micro-plate M, the partial heater 6 is slightly lowered by the air cylinder 9 until the partial heater 6 comes into contact with the leading edge Fr of the thermal adhesive film F as shown by an arrow A2. Temporarily fix while positioning to Mb. By this temporary fixing, the relative position between the microplate M and the heat-bonding film piece Fa is correctly maintained thereafter, and the two are integrally transported below the heating press section 5, and the heat-bonding film piece Fa is micro- Each small hole chamber Ma of the plate M
Is completely adhered to the opening edge Mc, and is completely sealed in a state where the liquid sample is injected into each small hole chamber Ma.

After the microplate M is completely sealed by the heating press section 5, the heating press section 5 is lifted away from the microplate M as shown by an arrow A7, and the sealed microplate M is transported by the microplate. The sheet is returned and conveyed by the section 7 as shown by the mark A8, and is taken out. The control / drive unit 8 performs timing synchronization control of forward feeding of the microplate M and feeding / drawing out / cutting of the thermal adhesive film F and setting control functions of the heating press unit 5 such as press pressure, press time, and heating temperature. Have

FIG. 3 schematically shows the flow of the method for sealing a microplate according to the present invention, and shows that the sealing process of the microplate M proceeds in the order of (a) to (e) in FIG. However, the details are the same as those described with reference to FIGS. That is, FIG. 3A shows a state before the microplate M and the heat bonding film F are sealed, and the microplate M and the heat bonding film F are forward-forwarded as indicated by an arrow A1. Then, the microplate M sent out under synchronous control
As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the thermal adhesive film F is cut from the thermal adhesive film F into a thermal adhesive film piece Fa having a length corresponding to the size of the upper surface of the microplate M.
The leading edge Fr is temporarily fixed to the front edge Mb of the microplate by the partial heater section 6 and is sent to below the heating press section 5. Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece Fa is heated and pressed by the heating press 5 to completely adhere to the opening edge Mc of each small hole chamber Ma on the upper surface of the microplate M. M is completely sealed. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 3D and 3E, the heating press section 5
Is separated from the thermal adhesive film piece Fa and the microplate M, and the sealed microplate M is returned and taken out as shown by an arrow A8.

[0015]

As is clear from the above embodiment, when the method for sealing a microplate and the automatic sealing device according to the present invention are used, a liquid sample is dispensed into a number of small holes formed in the microplate. In addition, each small hole chamber can be completely sealed at once in a short time, and liquid leakage between each small hole room and between each small hole room and the outside can be prevented with high precision. Since the adhesive film pieces do not protrude from the outer periphery of the microplate, the operation and storage posture are stable when the sealed microplates are stacked or the sealed microplate is operated by a robot.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of an automatic microplate sealing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a microplate to be sealed.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a method for sealing a microplate according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

M: Microplate 1: Film holding part Ma: Small hole chamber 2: Film supply part Mb: Front edge of microplate 3: Film guide Mc: Opening edge of small hole chamber 4: Cutter part W: Width of upper surface of microplate 5: Heating press part L: Length of upper surface of microplate 6: Partial heater part H: Height of upper part of microplate 7: Microplate transport part F: Thermal bonding film 8: Control
Driving unit Fa: thermal adhesive film piece 9: air cylinder Fr: leading edge of sending out thermal adhesive film Wf: width of thermal adhesive film

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takahiro Sugimoto 1 Machida-cho, Makishima-cho, Uji-city, Kyoto Prefecture (72) Inventor Shinji Shinji Ishida 1-Machida, Makishima-cho, Uji-shi, Kyoto F Micronics Co., Ltd. F Terms (reference) 3E049 AA02 AB03 BA04 CA10 DB01 EA01 EA03 EB03 EC02 FA06

Claims (2)

[Claims] A microplate having a large number of small-hole chambers having an open upper surface is forwardly fed and a long heat-adhesive film having a width equal to, but not exceeding, the width of the microplate is fed out. Synchronous control, with the leading edge of the heat bonding film being placed on the leading edge of the microplate to be fed forward, heating the leading edge of the thermal bonding film to temporarily position the leading edge of the microplate. At the same time, the sending out heat adhesive film is cut to a length equal to the length of the microplate without exceeding the length of the microplate and cut out as a heat adhesive film piece. Cover the opening on the upper surface of the microplate with the thermal adhesive film piece, and in this state, cover the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece. Sealing method of microplate, characterized in that the pressurized and heated the heat adhesive film strip adhered to the opening edge of each small hole chamber to seal the small holes chambers at once to. 2. A microplate transporter for removably mounting a microplate in which a plurality of small-hole chambers each having an open upper surface are formed and for advancing and returning the microplate, and exceeding a width of the microplate. A film holding unit for holding a long roll-type thermal adhesive film having a width equal to the width of the thermal adhesive film, a film supply unit for pulling out the leading edge of the thermal adhesive film, and delivering the thermal adhesive film; A partial heater section which heats the edge by placing the edge on the front edge of the microplate which has been advanced, and temporarily fixes the edge to the front edge of the microplate, and does not exceed the length of the microplate from the long thermal adhesive film. And a cutter section for cutting out a thermal adhesive film piece having a length equal to the length thereof, and an array on the upper surface of the microplate fed forward. A heating press unit that presses and heats the entire surface of the thermal adhesive film piece covering the opening of the small hole chamber at a stroke and adheres the thermal adhesive film piece to the opening edge of each small hole chamber; An automatic sealing device for a microplate, comprising: a control / drive unit for synchronously controlling the supply and delivery timing and cutting timing of the long thermal adhesive film.