JP2005221469A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dispenser capable of detecting the falling-off of a chip in an early stage and having high reliability and good working efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: The dispenser 10 is equipped with nozzles, each of which is an almost cylindrical body adsorbing and discharging a liquid sample arranged in an up and down direction and has a freely detachable chip 12 in the vicinity of the lower end thereof, a head part 16 for holding the nozzles and made freely movable in a horizontal direction and the chip detecting means 18 attached to the head part 16 in order to detect the presence of the chips 12 of the nozzles. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a dispensing apparatus used for dispensing a liquid sample such as a reagent and a specimen.

  Conventionally, in the analysis of blood, urine, etc., a dispensing device including a nozzle for sucking and discharging a liquid sample such as a reagent and a specimen, and a head unit that holds the nozzle and is movable in the horizontal direction has been used. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). The nozzles are cylindrical bodies arranged in the vertical direction, and are usually provided in a plurality along a substantially horizontal row direction. The head section includes a plurality of slide sections that individually hold the plurality of nozzles and are movable in the row direction, and the pitch of the plurality of nozzles can be adjusted.

  In addition, the nozzle is composed of a replaceable thin cylindrical member called a tip at the lower end, and the liquid sample is sucked into the tip of the microplate and discharged into the microplate recess or test tube. Note that when a liquid sample of a different type is aspirated, it is possible to prevent the reagent and specimen from being mixed in the nozzle by exchanging the tip.

  To replace the tip, first move the head to the tip removal stage, remove the used tip from the nozzle, and then move the head to the tip mounting stage and attach an unused tip to the nozzle. Is called.

  The chip mounting stage is designed so that unused chips are sequentially supplied to a predetermined chip supply position, and the nozzle is lowered from above the chip supply position to fit the unused chip. The tip is attached to the nozzle. In addition, a reflective or transmissive optical sensor is installed on the chip mounting stage, and if an unused chip remains at the chip supply position after the mounting operation is completed, the dispensing device determines that it is abnormal. It comes to stop.

  On the other hand, the tip removal stage is provided with a locking member that locks only the tip portion of the nozzle and restricts the rising, and by lifting the nozzle while locking the used tip with the locking member The used tip is removed from the nozzle. There is also a dispensing device in which an optical sensor is installed on the tip detachment stage, and such a dispensing device is judged to be abnormal when the tip is detected near the lower end of the nozzle after the evacuation operation and stops. It has become.

  As described above, the chip can be surely replaced by attaching and detaching the chip while detecting the unused chip or the used chip with the optical sensor.

JP 11-295323 A

  However, the tip is attached to the nozzle by fitting, and even if the tip is once attached to the nozzle on the tip mounting stage, the tip may be accidentally dropped from the nozzle due to vibration accompanying the movement of the head portion. . As a result, the suction or dispensing of the liquid sample may not be performed as intended. Further, when the chip is not mounted, the nozzle (above the chip) directly touches the liquid sample, and the nozzle may be contaminated.

  On the other hand, even if the liquid sample is being suctioned or dispensed, the presence of the tip at the lower end of the nozzle is detected by an optical sensor if the head is temporarily moved to the tip mounting stage or tip removal stage. Although it is possible, the work efficiency is reduced accordingly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing device that can detect chip dropout at an early stage, has high reliability, and has high work efficiency. .

  The present invention is a substantially cylindrical body arranged in the vertical direction, a nozzle in which a chip constituting the lower end portion is detachable, a head portion that holds the nozzle and is movable in the horizontal direction, The above-mentioned problem is solved by a dispensing device comprising: tip detecting means attached to the head portion for detecting the presence / absence of a nozzle tip.

  As the chip detecting means, a limited reflection type optical sensor having a light projecting unit for projecting light onto the chip and a light receiving unit for receiving reflected light from the chip is used. Good.

  In this case, a plurality of sets of the nozzles and the chip detection means are provided along a substantially horizontal row direction, and each of the chip detection means is arranged such that the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are arranged in the vertical direction. It is good to arrange | position and attach to the said head part.

  In this case, it is preferable that each chip detection means is disposed on the head portion so as to be in an upside down posture with respect to other adjacent chip detection means.

  In addition, the head portion includes a plurality of slide portions that individually hold the plurality of nozzles and are movable in the row direction, and the pitch of the plurality of nozzles can be adjusted. The plurality of chip detection means may be individually attached to the part.

  The slide portion may include a vertically movable nozzle head that holds the nozzle, and the chip detecting means may be attached to the nozzle head.

  In addition, the nozzle includes a plurality of nozzles along a substantially horizontal row direction, and the head portion includes a plurality of slide portions that individually hold the plurality of nozzles and are movable in the row direction. The pitch of the plurality of nozzles may be adjustable, and the common chip detection unit may detect the presence or absence of the chips of the plurality of nozzles.

  In the present invention, since the chip detecting means is attached to the head portion, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the tip at the lower end of the nozzle without moving the head portion.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the dispensing device 10 according to the first embodiment is a substantially cylindrical body arranged in the vertical direction, and a nozzle in which a tip 12 constituting a lower end portion is detachable. 14, a head unit 16 that holds the nozzle 14 and is movable in the XY direction (horizontal direction), and a chip detection that is attached to the head unit 16 to detect the presence or absence of the chip 12 of the nozzle 14. Means 18, and the chip detecting means 18 is characterized. Since other configurations are the same as those of the conventional dispensing apparatus, the description will be omitted as appropriate.

  A plurality of sets (eight sets in this embodiment) of nozzles 14 and chip detection means 18 are provided along a substantially horizontal row direction.

  The head unit 16 includes a plurality of (eight in this embodiment) slide units 24 that individually hold a plurality of nozzles 14 and are movable in the column direction, and the pitch of the plurality of nozzles 14 can be adjusted. ing. The minimum pitch of the nozzles 14 is about 9 mm. Four of these slide portions 24 are symmetrically arranged along both sides of the eight nozzles 12 forming a row, and the four slide portions 24 on one side of the eight nozzles 14 forming a row are arranged. Among them, every other four nozzles 14 are held, and the other four slide portions 24 hold every other four nozzles 14. The slide portion 24 includes a nozzle head 25 that can move up and down to hold the nozzle 14.

  The chip detection means 18 is a limited reflection type optical sensor having a light projecting unit 20 for projecting light onto the chip 12 and a light receiving unit 22 for receiving reflected light from the chip 12. Here, the limited reflection type optical sensor will be described. In FIG. 4, when the light projecting circuit 20A is activated, the light projecting element 20B emits light. The light projecting element 20B is an LED. The light emitted from the light projecting element 20B is collected by the light projecting lens 20C, and a thin light projecting light beam 20L is projected onto the detection body 23. The detector 23 reflects the light projected at the incident angle α at the reflection angle β. The thin received light beam 22L reflected at the reflection angle β is condensed by the light receiving lens 22C and applied to the light receiving element 22B. The light receiving element 22B is a photodiode. The light receiving circuit 22A converts and amplifies the current from the light receiving element 22B into a voltage and sends out a signal. The region where the presence or absence of the detector 23 can be confirmed is limited to a region where the projected light beam 20L and the received light beam 22L intersect, and a strong light reception signal can be obtained only in the limited region. That is, when the detection body 23 is present in a limited area, a light reception signal is obtained, which is referred to as a limited reflection type. The incident angle α is an angle formed by the light projecting optical axis 20X and the surface of the detection body 23, and the reflection angle β is an angle formed by the light receiving optical axis 22X and the surface of the detection body 59, and the incident angle α and the reflection angle. β is equal. Therefore, the main component of the received light is regular reflection light. Although it is possible to use a system that receives diffusely reflected light, it is preferable to use a system that receives specularly reflected light that can be detected with high accuracy within a small area in order to detect the presence or absence of the thin chip 12.

  The chip detection means 18 has a width in the row direction of 9 mm or less, and is arranged in parallel at a pitch of about 9 mm along the row direction of the nozzles 14. Each chip detector 18 is arranged such that the light projecting unit 20 and the light receiving unit 22 are arranged in the vertical direction. Further, each chip detection means 18 is arranged so as to have a posture opposite to the adjacent other chip detection means 18 in the vertical direction. The chip detecting means 18 projects the light reflected from the chip 12 by the light projecting unit 20 with respect to the chip 12 at the lower end while the nozzle 14 is raised to the vicinity of the upper limit position of the vertical movement range of the nozzle head 25. Is attached to the head portion 16 so that the light receiving portion 22 receives light. Each chip detection means 18 is arranged so that a part thereof overlaps with another adjacent chip detection means 18 and the other part protrudes in the opposite direction in the vertical direction. 16 is attached.

  The dispensing apparatus 10 includes control means (not shown) such as a microcomputer and a personal computer, and is configured to appropriately control the chip detection means 18, the head unit 16, and the like.

  Next, the operation of the dispensing apparatus 10 will be described. First, the operation when the tip 12 is mounted on the nozzle 14 will be described.

  When the chip 12 is mounted on the nozzle 14, first, the pitch of the nozzle 14 is adjusted to a minimum pitch of about 9 mm, and the nozzle 14 is held at the upper limit position. In this state, the head unit 16 is mounted on a chip mounting stage (not shown). ) Above. Next, the nozzle 14 is lowered together with the nozzle head 25, the chip 12 is fitted to the lower end of the nozzle 14, and then the nozzle 14 is raised again to the upper limit position. As a result, the tip 12 is attached to the lower end of the nozzle 14 and rises together with the nozzle 14.

  Here, when the light projecting unit 20 of the chip detection unit 18 projects light onto the chip 12, the projected light is reflected by the chip 12, and the light receiving unit 22 receives the reflected light from the chip 12. By detecting that the light receiving portions 22 of all the chip detecting means 18 receive the reflected light from the chip 12, the dispensing apparatus 10 determines that the chips 12 are mounted on all the nozzles 14. Then, operations such as suction and discharge of the liquid sample are started. On the other hand, when the light receiving unit 22 of any of the chip detection means 18 does not receive the reflected light from the chip 12, the dispensing device 10 is determined to be abnormal and stops, and the operator is abnormal due to a warning light, a warning sound, or the like. Informs that has occurred. The operator performs treatment such as replenishment of the tip 12 and manual placement of the tip 12, and then operates the dispensing device 10, and the dispensing device 10 resumes operations such as suction and discharge of the liquid sample.

  Next, an operation when the tip 12 is detached from the nozzle 14 will be described.

  When the chip 12 is removed from the nozzle 14, the pitch of the nozzle 14 is adjusted to a minimum pitch of about 9 mm, and the nozzle 14 is held at the upper limit position. In this state, the head unit 16 is placed on a chip removal stage (not shown). Move upward. Next, the nozzle 14 is lowered, and the nozzle 14 is raised to the upper limit position while the tip 12 at the lower end of the nozzle 14 is locked by a locking member (not shown) of the chip removal stage. Thereby, the chip 12 is detached from the nozzle 14.

  Here, the light projecting unit 20 of the chip detection unit 18 projects light below the nozzle 14, but the projected light is not reflected and received because the chip 12 at the lower end of the nozzle 14 is detached. The unit 22 does not receive the reflected light from the chip 12. When the light receiving units 22 of all the chip detection means 18 detect that the reflected light from the chip 12 is not received, the dispensing device 10 indicates that the chip 12 has been detached from all the nozzles 14. The head 16 moves to the chip mounting stage, and mounts the unused chip 12 on the nozzle 14 in the above-described procedure.

  On the other hand, when the light receiving unit 22 of any of the chip detection means 18 detects that the reflected light from the chip 12 is received after the exiting operation is finished, the dispensing device 10 determines that it is abnormal and stops. The operator is informed that an abnormality has occurred by a light, warning sound, or the like. The operator performs a procedure such as manual removal of the tip 12 and then operates the dispensing device 10, and the dispensing device 10 resumes work such as mounting of the unused tip 12.

  In this manner, since the tip detection unit 18 is attached to the head unit 16 in the dispensing device 10, even after the tip 12 is mounted on the tip mounting stage, even during the operation of sucking and discharging the liquid sample, The presence or absence of the tip 12 of the nozzle 14 can be detected. Therefore, even if the chip 12 is accidentally dropped from the nozzle 14 due to vibration caused by the movement of the head portion 16, the chip 12 can be detected at an early stage, and the reliability is high.

  In addition, the dispensing device 10 can detect the presence or absence of the tip 12 of the nozzle 14 without moving the head 16 even during operations such as suction and discharge of a liquid sample, so that work efficiency is high. When the liquid sample is sucked and discharged by adjusting the pitch of the nozzle 14 to be larger than the minimum 9 mm, the pitch of the nozzle 14 is temporarily adjusted to 9 mm in order to detect the presence or absence of the chip 12. However, in this case as well, there is no need to move the head portion 16 in order to detect the presence or absence of the chip 12, so that the effect of improving the working efficiency can be obtained.

  Moreover, since the chip | tip detection means 18 is a limited reflection type optical sensor, the dispensing apparatus 10 can detect the presence or absence of the chip | tip 12 of a thin cylindrical body with high precision.

  Furthermore, the dispensing device 10 is mounted on the head unit 16 so that each chip detection means 18 is placed in an upside down posture with respect to the other adjacent chip detection means 18. Since the incidence of the reflected light from the chip 12 adjacent to a certain chip 12 to the light receiving unit 22 is suppressed, the detection accuracy of the presence / absence of the chip 12 is also improved in this respect.

  Further, in the dispensing apparatus 10, each chip detection means 18 is mounted on the head unit 16 so that the light projecting unit 20 and the light receiving unit 22 are arranged in the vertical direction. The width of the means 18 in the column direction is suppressed to 9 mm or less and is compact. Thereby, a plurality of chip detection means 18 can be arranged in parallel with a narrow pitch of 9 mm, and it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the chip 12 at the lower end of the nozzle 14 arranged in parallel with a minimum pitch of 9 mm. .

  Each chip detection means 18 is arranged so that a part thereof overlaps with another adjacent chip detection means 18 and the other part protrudes in the opposite direction in the vertical direction. This structure also contributes to arranging a plurality of chip detecting means 18 at a narrow pitch of 9 mm.

  In the analysis of a liquid sample or the like, a microplate in which a large number of recesses are formed with a narrow pitch of about 9 mm may be used. In this case, the pitch of the nozzles 14 is also set to 9 mm. Therefore, it is possible to confirm whether or not the chip 12 has escaped when dispensing into the microplate, and the working efficiency is particularly good.

  Further, since the chip detection means 18 is a reflection type optical sensor, it can be installed in a smaller space than the transmission type optical sensor, and the head portion 16 is made compact accordingly.

  Further, in the dispensing device 10, the tip detection means 18 has both the function of detecting the attachment of the tip 12 to the nozzle 14 and the function of detecting the withdrawal of the tip 12 from the nozzle 14, so that the number of parts is small. Low cost.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the dispensing apparatus 50 according to the second embodiment is characterized in that a plurality of tip detection means 18 are individually attached to a plurality of slide portions 24 in the first embodiment. It is said. About another structure, since it is the same as that of the dispensing apparatus 10 which concerns on the said 1st Embodiment, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the dispensing device 50, the tip detection unit 18 is attached to the slide portion 24, and the tip detection unit 18 moves in the row direction together with the nozzle 14 as the pitch of the nozzle 14 is adjusted. Regardless of the value, the presence or absence of the tip 12 at the lower end of the nozzle 14 can be detected. In other words, since it is not necessary to adjust the pitch of the nozzles 14 in order to detect the presence or absence of the tip 12 at the lower end of the nozzle 14, the work efficiency is improved so much that the dropout of the tip 12 can be detected as early as possible. And reliable. The chip detection means 18 may be attached to a nozzle head 25 that moves up and down together with the nozzle 14. In this way, in order to detect the presence / absence of the tip 12 at the lower end of the nozzle 14, it is not necessary to adjust not only the pitch of the nozzle 14 but also the vertical position of the nozzle, and the presence / absence of the tip 12 is always detected. This makes it possible to further improve work efficiency and reliability.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the dispensing device 60 according to the third embodiment is configured so that the common tip detection unit 18 detects the presence or absence of the tips 12 of the plurality of nozzles 14 with respect to the first embodiment. It is characterized by being composed. About another structure, since it is the same as that of the dispensing apparatus 10 which concerns on the said 1st Embodiment, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The dispensing device 60 detects the presence or absence of the chips 12 of the plurality of nozzles 14 with the common chip detection means 18 by moving the nozzles 14 in the row direction and sequentially bringing the nozzles 14 closer to the chip detection means 18. Can do. Although the presence or absence of the chips 12 of the eight nozzles 14 may be detected by one chip detection means 18, for example, two chip detection means 18 are provided, and each chip detection means 18 includes four nozzles 14. The presence or absence of the chip 12 may be detected.

  Thus, since the common chip | tip detection means 18 detects the presence or absence of the chip | tip 12 of the some nozzle 14, the dispensing apparatus 60 has few number of parts of the chip | tip detection means 18, and is compact and low-cost.

  In the first to third embodiments, the chip detection means 18 is disposed on the head portion 16 so as to be opposite to the other chip detection means 18 in the vertical direction. The present invention is not limited to this, and when the stray light between the adjacent chip detection means 18 does not cause a problem, the plurality of chip detection means 18 may be attached to the base portion 16 in the same vertical direction. Good.

  In the first to third embodiments, the width of the chip detection unit 18 in the column direction is about 9 mm or less, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the width of the chip detection unit in the column direction is What is necessary is just to determine suitably in the range below the maximum value of the adjustment range of the pitch of the nozzle 14. When the common chip detection means 18 detects the presence or absence of the chips 12 of the plurality of nozzles 14 as in the third embodiment, the width of the chip detection means 18 in the column direction is equal to the pitch of the nozzles 14. It may be more than the maximum value of the adjustment range.

  In the first to third embodiments, the chip detection means 18 is a limited reflection type optical sensor having a light projecting unit 20 and a light receiving unit 22, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, if the presence or absence of the tip 12 of the nozzle 14 can be accurately detected, for example, a reflection type photosensor that projects and / or receives light without condensing light, a transmission type photosensor, etc. A type of sensor may be used.

  Moreover, in the said 1st-3rd embodiment, although the dispensing apparatus 10 is equipped with eight nozzles 14, this invention is not limited to this, For example, the dispensing device provided with four nozzles The present invention can also be applied to a dispensing device or a dispensing device having six nozzles. Also, if the present invention is applied to a dispensing apparatus having only one nozzle, the presence or absence of the tip 12 of the nozzle 14 can be detected at an early stage, and the effect of improving work efficiency and reliability can be obtained.

  The present invention can be used in a dispensing apparatus used for dispensing liquid samples such as reagents and specimens.

The perspective view which shows schematic structure of the head part of the dispensing apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which expands and shows the structure around the chip | tip detection means of the head part Side view schematically showing the structure around the slide part of the head part Side view schematically showing the structure of a limited reflection optical sensor The side view which shows typically the structure of the slide part periphery of the head part of the dispensing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The bottom view which shows typically the structure of the slide part periphery of the head part of the dispensing apparatus concerning 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Dispensing apparatus 12 ... Tip 14 ... Nozzle 16 ... Head part 18 ... Chip | tip detection means 20 ... Light projection part 22 ... Light-receiving part 24 ... Slide part 25 ... Nozzle head

Claims (7)

  A substantially cylindrical body arranged in the up-down direction, a nozzle in which a tip constituting the lower end is detachable, a head that holds the nozzle and is movable in the horizontal direction, and a tip of the nozzle And a tip detection means attached to the head portion for detecting the presence or absence. In claim 1,
The chip detecting means is a limited reflection type optical sensor having a light projecting unit for projecting light onto the chip and a light receiving unit for receiving reflected light from the chip. Dispensing device to do. In claim 2,
A plurality of sets of nozzles and chip detection means are provided along a substantially horizontal row direction, and each of the chip detection means is arranged such that the light projecting part and the light receiving part are arranged in the vertical direction. The dispensing device is attached to the head portion. In claim 3,
Each of the chip detection means is disposed so as to be in an upside down posture with respect to other adjacent chip detection means, and is attached to the head unit. In claim 3 or 4,
The head portion includes a plurality of slide portions that individually hold the plurality of nozzles and are movable in the row direction, and the pitch of the plurality of nozzles is adjustable, and the plurality of slide portions include the plurality of slide portions. A dispensing device, wherein a plurality of tip detection means are individually attached. In claim 5,
The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the slide portion includes a nozzle head that is movable up and down to hold the nozzle, and the tip detection unit is attached to the nozzle head. In claim 1 or 2,
A plurality of the nozzles are provided along a substantially horizontal row direction, and the head portion includes a plurality of slide portions that individually hold the plurality of nozzles and are movable in the row direction. The dispensing apparatus is characterized in that the nozzle pitch can be adjusted, and the tip detecting means in common detects the presence or absence of tips of the plurality of nozzles.

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