JP2003130184A - Cam mechanism, and handling device and sample-stirring device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily form the desired cam outline, while reducing friction between a cam and a driven body. SOLUTION: The cam mechanism is provided with a rotating cam, having a contacted surface and a driven body moving according to the rotation of the cam which is biased so as to be brought into contact with the contacted surface. The contacted surface is formed by a plurality of bearings.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cam mechanism, a handling device using the same, and a sample stirring device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As prior art related to the present invention,
A robot hand is provided that automatically holds the rack holding the sample container in and out of the rotor, and the robot hand is internally provided with a cam that is rotationally driven by a motor.
There is known a hand opening / closing cam characterized in that the shape of the cam is composed of one kind of large circle and one kind of small circle, and the small circle is composed of one bearing (for example, the actual opening flat). (See Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-41688).

[0003]

Generally, a cam mechanism has a rotating cam having a contact surface (cam contour) of a special shape on its periphery, and a driven body urged to contact the contact surface. The follower is adapted to perform a reciprocating linear motion or a reciprocating angular motion.

However, due to friction between the cam and the driven body, not only the two wear but also a large torque is required to rotate the cam. Further, the contacted surface (cam contour) of the cam needs to be processed into a complicated curved shape in order to allow the driven body to smoothly move along a predetermined locus, which is not easy to process. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and uses a cam mechanism that can reduce friction between the cam and the driven body and easily form a desired cam contour. A handling device and a sample stirring device are provided.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a cam having a contacted surface and rotating, and a driven body which is urged to come into contact with the contacted surface and moves according to the rotation of the cam. A cam mechanism in which a contacted surface is formed by a plurality of bearings. A radial bearing is preferable as the above bearing, and a commercially available ball bearing or roll bearing can be used.

Further, the present invention is provided with the above-mentioned cam mechanism, the follower is composed of two hands which are openably and closably supported and urged in the closing direction, and the cam is arranged so as to open and close both hands. The present invention provides a handling device. That is, the handling device of the present invention includes two hands that are openably and closably supported, a biasing member that biases both hands in a closing direction, and a cam that opens and closes both hands. With a plurality of bearings for contacting and pushing them open.

Further, the cam may include a bearing support member that supports a plurality of bearings, and a support shaft that rotatably supports the bearing support member. Further, the plurality of bearings may include two bearings, and the bearings may be symmetrically arranged on the bearing support member about the support shaft.

The plurality of bearings may be two bearings, and the bearings may be asymmetrically arranged on the bearing support member with the support shaft as the center. Alternatively, the plurality of bearings may include three bearings, and the bearing support member may be disposed so as to surround the support shaft. Further, the present invention may further include a motor that rotationally drives the bearing support member. The present invention also provides a stirring device using the above handling device.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, first and second drive sources, a first support member for supporting the two hands in an openable and closable manner, and a second support member for rotatably supporting the first support portion. And a moving member that reciprocates the second support member from the first position to the second position by the driving force of the first driving source,
An opening / closing member for driving the second hand to open and close the two hands, the opening / closing member having a bearing that pushes the two hands in contact with each hand, and the opening / closing member has the two hands in the first position. Open and close, the moving member is the second
The present invention provides a sample stirring device that rotates a first support member forward and backward in response to the reciprocating motion of the support member.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view showing an embodiment of a cam mechanism of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the cam mechanism 101 includes a cam 104 having a contacted surface (cam contour) 102 and rotating, and a driven body 105.

The driven body 105 is supported by a driven shaft 106 and is urged in the direction of arrow A so as to come into contact with the contacted surface 102. The driven body 105 is arranged so as to swing in the arrow B direction as the cam 104 rotates. The cam 104 includes a plurality of radial bearings B1 to B.
6 is mounted, the bearing support member 107 is supported by the support shaft 103 and is rotated by a drive source (not shown), and the radial bearings B1 to B6 form the contacted surface 102. Therefore, the contacted surface 10
Since the friction between 2 and the driven body 105 is reduced by the action of the bearing, the cam 104 can be rotationally driven with a small rotational torque.

The curved shape of the contacted surface 102 is determined only by adjusting the positions of the bearings B1 to B6 with respect to the bearing support member 107. Therefore, processing of the contacted surface becomes extremely easy. The number and size of the radial bearings B1 to B6 can be arbitrarily selected according to the shape of the contacted surface.

2 and 3 are explanatory views of the configuration of a handling device to which the cam mechanism shown in FIG. 1 is applied. As shown in these drawings, the handling device 111 includes two hands 11 supported by a support shaft 112 so as to be openable and closable.
3, 114, a biasing member (spring) 115 for biasing the hands 113, 114 in the closing direction, and the hand 11
The hand 11 is supported by a support shaft 116 between 3, 114.
A cam 117 for opening and closing 3,114 is provided.
Reference numeral 17 has two radial bearings B1 and B2 for contacting the hands 113 and 114 and pushing them out.

The cam 117 has radial bearings B1 and
A bearing support member 118 that supports B2 is provided, and the bearing support member 118 is configured to rotate about a support shaft 116 by a drive source (not shown). The radial bearings B1 and B2 are arranged on the straight line passing through the support shaft 116 so that the support shaft 1
16 are arranged symmetrically.

The bearing support member 118 shown in FIG.
When it is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by 0 degree, the radial bearings B1 and B2 move to the hand 1 as shown in FIG.
13 and 114 are pushed open from the center line CL by an angle θ. When the bearing support member 118 further rotates 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise, the hands 113, 1
14 is closed as shown in FIG. That is, handling is performed by this operation.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the handling device shown in FIG. 2, and the bearing support member 1 of the cam 117 shown in FIG.
18 is replaced with a bearing support member 118a. The bearing support member 118a includes radial bearings B1 and B2 that are arranged asymmetrically with respect to the support shaft 116 on a straight line passing through the support shaft 116. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG. Therefore, the bearing support member 118
When a rotates clockwise by 90 degrees, the hands 113, 11
4 are opened from the center line CL by different angles θ1 and θ2, respectively.

On the contrary, when it is rotated counterclockwise, the hand 11
3, 114 are opened from the center line CL by θ2 and θ1, respectively. That is, in the handling device shown in FIG. 4, the maximum opening angles of the two hands can be set to be different from each other.

FIG. 6 shows another modified example of the handling device shown in FIG. 2, in which the bearing support member 118 of the cam 117 of FIG. 2 is replaced with a bearing support member 18b. The bearing support member 118b includes three radial bearings B arranged so as to surround the support shaft 16 and be dispersed.
1, B2, B3. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

Therefore, when the bearing support member 118b rotates clockwise or counterclockwise, at least two of the three radial bearings B1, B2, B3 come into contact with the hands 113, 114 sequentially, and the hands 113, 114 are different from each other. You can open and close different angles depending on the timing.

Embodiments The present invention will be described in detail below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. This does not limit the invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a sample stirring device using a cam mechanism and a handling device according to the present invention as seen from the front side, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view as seen from the back side.

As shown in FIG. 7, a support plate 2 is fixed to a base 1, and the support plate 2 has a first bracket 3 at the upper end thereof.
And the stepping motor 8 are fixed, and as shown in FIG. 8, the second bracket 4, the driven pulley 12, and the stepping motor 20 are installed in the middle part. As shown in FIG. 7, a driven pulley 7 is supported on the protruding end of the second bracket 4 so as to be rotatable about the support shaft 6, and the pulley 7 is arranged on its side surface symmetrically with respect to the support shaft 6. The cam mechanism is configured by including two radial ball bearings 7a and 7b.

As shown in FIG. 7, the stepping motor 2
A drive pulley 29 is fixed to the output shaft 20a of 0, a timing belt 30 is suspended between the pulley 7 and the pulley 29, and the pulley 7 is driven by the motor 20.

As shown in FIG. 8, the stepping motor 8
The drive pulley 10 is fixed to the output shaft 8a of the
A timing belt 5 is suspended between 0 and the pulley 12.

As shown in FIG. 7, on the surface of the support plate 2,
The guide rail 11 is provided in the vertical direction. A slider 13 is fitted on the guide rail 11 so as to be vertically slidable. A plate 15 is fixed on the slider 13, and the plate 15 is fixed to the timing belt 5 by a fixture 14 (FIG. 8). That is, the plate 15 is configured to move in the vertical direction by driving the motor 8.

As shown in FIG. 7, a plate-shaped cam 34 is provided on the plate 15 so as to be rotatable about the support shaft 16, and hands 17 and 18 are provided on the plate-shaped cam 34, respectively.
It is provided so as to be rotatable around 19b.

The hands 17 and 18 are connected by a first spring 21, and the first spring 21 biases the hands 17 and 18 toward each other, and the biased hands 17 and 1
8 is stopped by the contact between the protrusions 25 and 26.

The pin 22 erected on the plate 15 and the pin 23 erected on the plate-shaped cam 34 constitute the second spring 24.
The second spring 24 urges the plate-shaped cam 34 around the support shaft 16 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7, and the plate-shaped cam 34 comes into contact with the projecting portion 35 and stops.

Further, the first bracket 3 fixes a cam operating piece 27 having a radial bearing 28 at its tip downward. As shown in FIG. 7, the plate 15 is provided with a sensor operation piece 31 that projects horizontally, and this operation piece 31 operates an upper limit sensor 32 a and a lower limit sensor 32 b, which are photo interrupters provided on the support plate 2. Has become.

As shown in FIG. 8, cam contact portions 17a and 18a for contacting the bearings 7a and 7b are provided on the upper back sides of the hands 17 and 18, and the sample container 10 is provided at the tip.
Elastic members 17b and 18b for holding 0 are provided.

The operation of the sample agitating apparatus thus configured will be described below. In this sample agitator, the hands 17 and 18 are held at the positions shown in FIG. 7 during standby, and the bearings 7a and 7b of the pulley 7 are also horizontally aligned as shown in FIG. At this time, the hands 17, 18 are in a state in which the tips are located slightly above the pulley 7.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Is connected to the hands 17 and 1 by a rack (transport device) not shown.
When it is conveyed to the position just below 8, the stepping motor 8 is driven to lower the hands 17 and 18 to the lowest limit as shown in FIG.

The bearings 7a and 7b come into contact with the cam contact portions 17a and 18a from the middle of the descending operation to open the hands 17 and 18, and at the lowest position, the hands 17 and 18 are moved to the sample container 100.
Oppose to the upper part without touching. Then, the stepping motor 20 operates to rotate the pulley 7 and
When the bearings 7a and 7b are vertically aligned as shown in FIG. 10, the hands 17 and 18 approach each other as shown in FIG.
Grab the top of 00.

Next, when the stepping motor 8 is driven to raise the plate 15, as shown in FIG.
4 contacts the bearing 28 of the cam operating piece 27. When the plate 15 further rises, the plate-shaped cam 34 is pressed by the bearing 28 of the cam operating piece 27 as shown in FIG. 12, and rotates clockwise about the shaft 16 against the urging force of the second spring 24. Then, the sample container 100 starts to tilt.

When the plate 15 further rises, the sample container 100 starts rotating as shown in FIG. 13, and when the plate 15 rises to the maximum upper limit, the sample container 100 moves from the vertical posture of FIG. 11 to an angle of 120 degrees. Rotate. Here, the sensor operating piece 31 operates the upper limit sensor 32a, the stepping motor 8 is stopped, and the lifting operation of the plate 15 is stopped.

Next, the stepping motor 8 rotates in the reverse direction,
The plate 15 is at the position shown in FIG. 11, that is, the sample container 10
0 is lowered to the position where it returns to the vertical state and stopped. Then, the stepping motor 8 moves the plate 15 from the position of FIG. 11 to the position of FIG. 13 a predetermined number of times (for example, 10 times).
The sample container 100 is reciprocated and the rocking of the sample container 100 is repeated. As a result, the sample in the sample container 100 is sufficiently stirred.

When the stirring operation is completed in this way, the stepping motor 8 lowers the plate 15 to the position shown in FIG. 10 and reloads the sample container into the rack. At this time, since the sensor operating piece 31 operates the lower limit sensor 32b, the stepping motor 8 stops and the lowering operation of the plate 15 also stops.

Next, the stepping motor 20 is operated to rotate the pulley 7 to the position shown in FIG. As a result, the test container 100 is separated from the hands 17 and 18.

As described above, this sample stirring device is
The operation of taking out from the rack, the stirring operation, and the reloading operation to the rack are continuously performed for the plurality of sample containers 100.

FIG. 14 is a plan layout view of a blood analyzer to which the sample stirring device of the present invention is applied. Rack 226
Here, it is shaped like a test tube so that ten sample containers 200 can be mounted. The sample container 200 contains blood as a sample.

First, when the racks 226 accommodating the sample containers 100 are lined up in a line in the shipping section 212, all the racks 226 move forward while being aligned in the direction indicated by the arrow C, and then the top rack 226 is moved. Left transfer unit 210
Sent to.

A blood analyzer 218 is provided above the transfer section 210.
Are arranged. The rack 226 transferred by the transfer unit 200 stops immediately below the stirring device 211 of the blood analyzer 218.

When the sample in the leading sample container 200 is agitated by the sample agitating device 211, the rack 226 moves by a predetermined distance (arrangement pitch of the sample containers 200) and the sample is agitated from the sample container after the agitation. It is sucked by the suction device 212.

The aspirated sample is quantified by the quantification unit 213 and analyzed by the analysis unit 214. During the suction operation of the suction device 212, the stirring device 211 stirs the sample in the next sample container 200. The racks 226 are intermittently conveyed by the arrangement pitch of the sample containers 200, and 10 racks (one rack 1
When the stirring and suction of the samples in all the sample containers mounted on 26 are completed, the rack 226 is further transported in the D direction,
The stirring of the first sample container 100 of the next rack 226 is started.

The racks 226 after stirring and suctioning the samples for 10 containers are finally collected in a row in the direction of arrow E by the rack collecting section 216. The blood analyzer 218
The sample stirring device shown in FIG. 7 is applied to the sample stirring device 211 in FIG.

[0046]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of bearings are arranged along the cam contour, it is possible to reduce friction between the cam and the driven body and to easily form a desired cam contour. A mechanism, a handling device and a sample stirring device using the same are provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view showing a cam mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a handling device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the handling device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a modified example of the handling device of FIG.

5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the handling device in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view of another modification of the handling device of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the sample stirring device according to the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the sample stirring device shown in FIG. 7 viewed from the back side.

9 is a perspective view showing the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

10 is a perspective view showing the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

11 is a perspective view showing the operation of the device shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

13 is a perspective view showing the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a plan layout view of a blood analyzer using the sample stirring device shown in FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 cam mechanism 102 contacted surface 103 spindle 104 cam 105 Follower 106 Driven shaft 107 Bearing support member B1-B6 radial bearing

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G01N 35/02 G01N 35/02 D 35/04 35/04 GF term (reference) 2G058 CA02 CB08 CB15 EA02 EA07 EB01 EB03 FA03 GE03 3C007 DS01 ES03 ET02 EU08 EU11 EU14 EU20 EW00 HS27 3J030 EA01 EA21 EC04 EC06 3J062 AA38 AC09 BA01 BA32 CC12 CC13 CG95

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A cam which has a contacted surface and rotates, and a driven body which is urged to contact the contacted surface and moves according to the rotation of the cam. The contacted surface of the cam is formed by a plurality of bearings. A cam mechanism that is formed. 2. The cam mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the driven body is composed of two hands that are openably and closably supported and are biased in a closing direction, and the cam is arranged so that the cam opens and closes both hands. A handling device that has been used. 3. The handling device according to claim 1, wherein the cam comprises a bearing support member that supports a plurality of bearings, and a support shaft that rotatably supports the bearing support member. 4. The handling device according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of bearings are composed of two bearings and are symmetrically arranged on the bearing support member about the support shaft. 5. The handling device according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of bearings are composed of two bearings and are asymmetrically arranged on the bearing support member about the support shaft. 6. The handling device according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of bearings are composed of three bearings, and are arranged on the bearing support member so as to surround the support shaft. 7. The handling device according to claim 3, further comprising a motor that rotationally drives the bearing support member. 8. A stirrer using the handling device according to claim 4. 9. A first and a second drive source, a first support member that supports the two hands in an openable and closable manner, a second support member that rotatably supports the first support portion, and a first drive source. A moving member that reciprocates the second support member from the first position to the second position by the driving force, and a second driving source that drives the moving member.
An opening / closing member for opening / closing one hand, the opening / closing member has a bearing that contacts each hand and pushes both hands open, the opening / closing member opens / closes the two hands in the first position, and the moving member is the first member. 2 A sample stirring device that rotates the first support member forward and backward in response to the reciprocating motion of the support member.