JP2002090289A - Sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a sensor comprising a sensor unit having a small number of components and exhibiting excellent mass productivity, in a liquid analysis sensor of such a system as a sensor unit including a sensor element is replaced because the sensor element has a lifetime, in which a general resin material having low chemical resistance can be used in the case of sensor unit even when the sensor element is required to touch a liquid intolerable for the general resin material, e.g. strong acid or strong alkaline. SOLUTION: The sensor unit comprises a sensor element 7, a channel component 8 provided with two holes having an open end 5 communicating with a nozzle 4 and an end 6 communicating with the sensor element, a seal component A9, a seal component B10, a sensor element and a case 11 for containing them. Since the liquid is discharged from the other nozzle after touching the sensor element, the liquid does not touch the case.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sensor device for analyzing components of a liquid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sensor device for analyzing a component of a liquid, a sensor element for bringing a liquid to be measured into contact and extracting a necessary signal usually has a certain life.
After a certain number of measurements or period, the sensor element needs to be replaced. In order to facilitate replacement of the sensor element, the sensor element is generally configured to be detachable from the sensor body as a sensor unit in which the sensor element and the like are put in a case. The sensor unit needs a flow path for supplying and discharging the liquid by connecting to the sensor body. Conventionally, this flow path has been provided in the case of the sensor unit.

[0003]

Depending on the type of sensor element, in order to analyze the components of the liquid, it is necessary to clean the sensor element and restore the state of the sensor element in response to the sample liquid in addition to the sample liquid to be analyzed. Needs to be sent to the sensor element. Some of these liquids are liquids that cannot be used with general resin materials such as strong acids and strong alkalis. To provide this flow path in the case of the sensor unit, the case must be chemically resistant. It is necessary to use a material such as a high resin or stainless steel, but these are generally more difficult to process and mold and higher in cost than materials having low chemical resistance.

[0004] Further, in the sensor unit, either the sensor body or the sensor unit needs a sealing part for detachably sealing between the sensor body and a flow path provided in the case of the sensor unit. Since the seal component is worn or deteriorated, it is generally mounted on the sensor unit side. Also, a part for sealing between the sensor element and the flow path provided in the case is required inside the sensor unit. As described above, the sensor unit has many parts for sealing, and the assemblability in mass production is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a structure in which a liquid is not brought into contact with a case of a sensor unit, so that a general chemical resistance is not good. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor device having a sensor unit with high mass productivity by forming a case of a sensor unit with a resin material or the like and reducing the number of parts for sealing.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sensor unit in which a liquid is brought into contact with a sensor element housed in a case via a liquid flow path via a liquid flow path. Wherein the liquid flow path is formed in a flow path component housed in the case and configured such that the liquid does not come into contact with the case. And

According to the present invention, the liquid flowing in from the sensor main body or flowing out of the sensor main body passes through only the flow path component and the sensor element, and does not come into contact with the case accommodating these components. Since the sensor unit case is isolated from the case, the sensor unit case can be made of a material having low chemical resistance without any problem.

In addition, a sealing component for sealing the liquid-tight seal between the flow path component and the sensor body and / or the sensor element is arranged.

Further, by forming the seal as a part of the flow path component, the number of seal components can be reduced and the structure of the sensor unit can be simplified.

Further, by forming a part of the flow path component as a projection, sealing can be performed with a small pressing force, and the reliability of the sealing can be improved.

Further, a part of the flow path component is made of at least resin or rubber to improve the sealing property.

The sensor element has a surface plasmon resonance (S
PR) sensor.

The SPR sensor is a sensor element utilizing resonance between an evanescent wave generated by reflection of light on the surface of the metal thin film in contact with the liquid and surface plasmon (SP) generated on the surface of the metal thin film. Since the liquid measurement signal can be taken out of the sensor element without contact, the configuration of the sensor unit can be simplified.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples and drawings.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a sensor device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The sensor device is, for example, a tank A (22) and a tank B (23) for three types of chemicals.
A liquid supply device having a tank C (24) and a liquid sending unit (19), which switches or mixes these chemicals and a sample (25) to be measured, and sends them through a pipe to the sensor body (2) in a predetermined order. 18) reacts with the sent liquid,
It comprises a sensor main body (2) for outputting an electric signal and a signal processing unit (21) for converting an electric signal from the sensor main body (2) into a measured value. Further, the sensor body (2)
Is mounted with a replaceable sensor unit (1).

FIG. 2 is an overall view of a sensor body and a sensor unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The sensor body (2) includes a mechanism (3) for attaching and detaching the sensor unit (1) to and from the sensor body (2) and a stainless steel nozzle (4) connected to a liquid supply device for supplying and discharging liquid. Is provided. The nozzle (4) works in conjunction with the sensor unit attaching / detaching mechanism (3), and moves down when the sensor unit (1) is mounted on the sensor body (2).
The liquid supply device (18) is connected to the sensor unit (1), and supplies and discharges liquid to the sensor unit (1). Further, the nozzle (4) rises when the sensor unit (1) is removed from the sensor main body (2). The signal of the sensor element built in the sensor unit irradiates the light emitting diode (5) of the sensor body to the sensor element of the sensor unit, and the reflected light is read by the CCD line sensor (6) and processed by the signal processing unit (21). You. This sensor element is an example of a biosensor element represented by a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor.

In this example, since signals are taken out of the sensor elements of the sensor unit in a non-contact manner, a signal line from the sensor element is not required in the sensor unit. When it is necessary to directly extract a signal from the sensor element, an electrode connected to the sensor element is provided in the sensor unit, the electrode is brought into contact with the electrode of the sensor body, and the electrode of the sensor body is connected to the signal processing unit. Accordingly, it is needless to say that a signal can be directly extracted from the sensor element in the same manner as in the above embodiment. That is, as the sensor element, various sensors other than the biosensor described above can be used.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the sensor unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the sensor unit, one of the two openings (5) communicates with the nozzle (4), the other opening (6) communicates with the sensor element (7), and the two openings (5) on the nozzle side communicate with the sensor element. Side opening (6)
A flow path component (8) having a flow path formed so as to communicate with two holes, a seal part A (S) for sealing between a nozzle (4) for introducing and discharging liquid from the sensor body and the flow path component (8). 9), a seal component B (10) for sealing between the sensor element (7) and the flow path component (8), the sensor element (7), and a case (11) for accommodating them. Each of the sealing parts A and B is made of rubber or a resin material, and uses an O-ring or a modified packing with a lip for sealing according to the shape of the nozzle (4) or the sensor element (7). The liquid passes through one hole of the flow path component (8) from one nozzle and contacts the sensor element (7), and then passes from the other nozzle (4) through the other hole of the flow path component (8). The liquid does not touch the case because it is drained. Therefore, if a material having chemical resistance is used only for the flow path component and the seal component, no problem such as deterioration of the material due to chemicals will occur even if a material having low chemical resistance is used for the case.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sensor unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The sensor unit includes a sensor element (7), a flow path component (8), and a case (11) that houses these components. The structure of the sensor unit is such that the upper and lower surfaces of the flow path component (8) directly contact the nozzle and the sensor element surface. The difference from the first embodiment is that there is no seal part A for sealing between the nozzle for introducing and discharging the liquid from the sensor body and the flow path component, and no seal part B for sealing between the sensor element and the flow path component. It is in the place.

FIG. 5 is a view of a nozzle contact surface of a flow path component according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The material of the flow path component (8) is made of fluorine, Teflon (registered trademark) resin, fluoro rubber, or the like having high chemical resistance, flexibility and excellent sealing properties, and a projection (12) for sealing is arranged on the nozzle contact surface. Then, the flow path component and the sealing component can be used.
The same applies to a case where a groove is formed instead of the projection, and a seal is made at an excess portion between the groove and the opening.

FIG. 6 is a view of a sensor element contact surface of a flow path component according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Similarly, the material of the flow path component (8) is made of fluorine, Teflon resin, fluoro rubber, or the like having high chemical resistance, flexibility and excellent sealing properties, and a projection (1) for sealing is provided on the contact surface with the sensor element.
By disposing 3), it is possible to use both the flow path component and the sealing component. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced and the assemblability during mass production can be improved.

The projections (12) and (13) are not always necessary, and can be sealed using the elasticity of the material of the flow path component.

[0023]

According to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited by the above configuration.

Since the sensor element has a limited life, in a sensor device for analyzing components of a liquid in which a sensor unit including the sensor element is replaced, the sensor element cannot be used with a general resin material such as a strong acid or a strong alkali. Even when a liquid needs to be used, low chemical resistance materials such as general resin materials can be used for the sensor unit case instead of high chemical resistance resin or stainless steel, etc. A sensor device having a sensor unit with excellent characteristics can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a sensor device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the entirety of a sensor main body and a sensor unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The figure (B) shows a view from the arrow direction of the figure (A).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a cross section of the sensor unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sensor unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a nozzle contact surface of a flow path component according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a sensor element contact surface of a flow path component according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1 Sensor unit 2 Sensor body 3 Sensor unit attaching / detaching mechanism 4 Nozzle 5 Light emitting diode 6 CCD line sensor 7 Sensor element 8 Flow path component 9 Sealing component A 10 Sealing component B 11 Case 12 Projection for sealing 18 Liquid supply device 19 Liquid sending unit 21 Signal processing unit 22 Tank A 23 Tank B 24 Tank C 25 Sample

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2G057 AA20 AB07 AC01 BA10 BC05 DB08 2G059 AA01 BB04 BB12 CC16 DD02 DD12 FF06 FF07 FF10 GG02 KK04 NN01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sensor in which a sensor unit for allowing a liquid to come into contact with a sensor element housed in a case via a liquid flow path is removably disposed in a sensor body, and analyzes a component of the liquid. In the apparatus, the liquid flow path is formed in a flow path component that is housed in a case and configured so that the liquid does not contact the case. 2. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein a seal component for sealing a liquid-tight seal between the flow path component and the sensor body and / or the sensor element is arranged. 3. The sensor device according to claim 2, wherein said seal is constituted by a part of a flow path component. 4. The sensor device according to claim 3, wherein a part of the flow path component is formed by a projection. 5. The sensor device according to claim 3, wherein a part of the flow path component is made of at least resin or rubber. 6. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor element is a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor.