JP2006159198A - Centrifuge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a centrifuge in which a microplate can be used under high centrifugal acceleration to improve a centrifugal efficiency when the microplate is mounted on a centrifuge rotor. <P>SOLUTION: There is provided a centrifuge in which samples each injected to a plurality of sample injection holes are centrifuged by a centrifugal force generated by rotation when a microplate 4 that is a box container with the plurality of sample injection holes is placed in a bucket 2 and a swing rotor is rotated, wherein the microplate 4 is placed in the bucket 2 so that a bottom rear surface of the container with the plurality of sample injection holes contacts a surface on which the microplate is placed, and at the same time a surface opposed to an outer wall of the box container is placed at a position lower than the surface on which the microplate is placed and with which the rear bottom surface of the container is contacted, whereby the centrifugal force generated during a roration of the rotor is received on the contacted surface to reduce a bending moment applied to the outer wall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a centrifuge.

  First, the microplate will be described with reference to FIG. The microplate 4 can be used, for example, for various experiments in the tissue culture field and the genetic engineering field, in which a reaction reagent is dropped on a body fluid such as blood and then applied to a centrifuge or an intermediate process including a centrifugation process. It is being used. Such a microplate 4 is generally made of a plastic material such as polystyrene or polypropylene, and is formed by molding. It is a box-shaped container with dimensions of about 130 mm in length, about 90 mm in width, and about 10-50 mm in height, and a number of small concave sample injection holes 5 for injecting samples are provided in the top and bottom in an orderly manner. It has been. In consideration of the case where the microplate 4 is vertically stacked, a notch 8 is provided in the lower portion of the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4. The dimension of the notch 8 is substantially the same as the dimension of the upper surface of the microplate 4, thereby preventing positional displacement between the microplates 4 stacked one above the other. If this notch 8 is not provided at a position lower than the plate bottom surface 9 of the microplate 4, it is impossible to prevent positional displacement between the microplates 4 when stacked one above the other. The box-shaped outer wall 7 is configured to extend to a position lower than the plate bottom surface 9.

  Next, a centrifuge rotor for centrifuging the sample in the microplate 4 will be described. Such a microplate centrifuge rotor is also disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-934, and will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 is an external perspective view of a swing-type rotor, and FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a metal adapter attached to the swing rotor shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, the rotor is basically composed of a rotor body 1 and a bucket 2, and a rotational force is applied to the rotor body 1 by a centrifuge not shown, and the bucket is generated by the centrifugal force resulting from the rotational force. 2 is configured to swing outward and add centrifugal acceleration to the sample held in the bucket 2.

  In order to use such a swing rotor for separation of a sample built in the microplate 4, it is common to attach a metal adapter 3 to the bucket 2. The adapter 3 has an outer dimension so that there is no backlash with respect to the bucket 2, and the adapter 3 further has a microplate to eliminate backlash with the microplate 4 when the microplate 4 is held. Bending portions 12 and 13 for holding the outer periphery of 4 are provided. The adapter 3 is manufactured by processing a metal plate such as a stainless steel plate or an aluminum plate, and its bottom 11 is flat.

  When the above-described microplate 4 is loaded in such an adapter 3, the configuration shown in FIG. 12 is obtained. As described above, the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4 is configured to extend to a position lower than the bottom surface 9 of the plate, and the bottom 11 of the adapter 3 is configured to be flat. Between the adapter 3 and the adapter 3. In such a state, the rotation speed is usually about 2,000 rpm and the maximum centrifugal acceleration is usually about 700 × g.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No.57-934

  In recent years, microplates have been used to test various symptoms related to human health and various experiments in the field of tissue culture, improving the efficiency of the centrifugation process required in the intermediate process of tests and experiments. Is required. Increasing the efficiency of the centrifugation step can be achieved by increasing the centrifugal acceleration by increasing the number of rotations that rotate the row.

  However, when the number of revolutions of the rotor configured as described above is increased to improve the efficiency, the sample injection hole portion 5 of the microplate 4 is separated from the boundary portion 6 between the box-shaped outer wall 7 and the sample injection hole. The county part of part 5 is damaged in a depressed manner, and the purpose of centrifugation cannot be achieved. This is because, when a centrifugal load due to centrifugal acceleration is applied to the microplate 4, there is a gap 10 between the bottom surface 9 of the microplate 4 and the bottom 11 of the adapter 3, so that the sample injection hole 5 has a centrifugal load. As a result, a large bending moment is applied to the boundary portion 6 of the sample injection hole portion 5 and the box-shaped outer wall 7 as a result of bending toward the gap portion 10, leading to breakage of the boundary portion 6. According to the applicant's test, when a commercially available normal microplate 4 was tested, breakage of the boundary portion 6 occurred at about 1,000 × g (1,000 times the acceleration of gravity). Polystyrene is generally used as the material of the microplate 4, and the fact that it is brittle in strength, which is a characteristic of polystyrene, also contributes to the damage.

  Since the rotor for the centrifuge generates high centrifugal acceleration, the lighter the object to be separated including the adapter 3 held by the bucket 2, the smaller the centrifugal load can be reduced, and the burden on the rotor body and bucket is reduced. Become advantageous. Moreover, the bucket is installed symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis, and it is necessary to consider the mass balance of the opposing buckets and the balance of the center of gravity. If the position of the microplate is shifted and held and rotated, the rotor will vibrate and rotate, and the centrifuge may be damaged, and the purpose of centrifugation cannot be achieved.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a centrifugal separator that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and enables the centrifugal rotor to be used under higher centrifugal acceleration when the microplate is mounted, thereby improving the efficiency of the centrifugal separation process. Is to provide a machine.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotor body that has a plurality of bucket housing portions and rotates around a drive shaft, and is provided in the bucket housing portion so as to be swingable with respect to the rotor body. A box-shaped container microplate having a large number of sample injection holes is mounted on the bucket, and when the swing rotor is rotated, the centrifugal force generated by the rotation causes the above In the centrifuge for centrifuging the sample injected into the sample injection section, when the microplate is mounted on the bucket, the microplate is placed on the back bottom surface of the container having the multiple sample injection holes. The surface facing the outer wall of the box-shaped container is a surface lower than the contacting mounting surface. It receives a centrifugal force generated when rotated in the contact surface, characterized in that so as to reduce the bending moment applied to the outer wall.

  According to the present invention, when the microplate is mounted and rotated, the back bottom surface of the sample injection hole is in contact with the mounting surface and receives a centrifugal force. A centrifuge can be provided that allows it to be placed under centrifugal acceleration.

  An embodiment of a microplate adapter used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an external view of the adapter 3, and FIG. 2 is a vertical side view of the adapter 3 and the microplate 4 combined.

  1 and 2, the adapter 3 is provided with a pad 14 having an outer dimension substantially equal to its inner dimension. The pad 14 is formed of an elastic body such as rubber or plastic, and is bonded to the adapter 3 at the bottom surface. The configuration of the pad 14 has an upper surface portion 16 having a height in contact with the bottom surface 9 of the microplate 4 at the center thereof, and a height in contact with the lower surface of the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4 on the outer peripheral portion. A step portion 15 having a thickness is provided.

  When the microplate 4 is placed on the adapter 3 having the pad 14 configured as described above and loaded into the bucket 2 of the rotor body 1 and subjected to centrifugal separation, the bucket 2 including the adapter 3 is subjected to centrifugal force. As a result, a downward centrifugal force is generated in FIG. This centrifugal force acts on the microplate 4, but the plate bottom surface 9 of the microplate 4 is received in the centrifugal direction by the upper surface portion 16 of the pad 14, and the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4 is stepped on the pad 14. Since it is received by the portion 15, a large bending moment is not applied to the boundary portion 6 of the sample injection hole portion 5, the boundary portion 6 of the box-shaped outer wall 7 and other portions, and as a result, the centrifugal force is higher than that of the conventional case. It will be able to withstand. When the rotation test of the commercially available microplate 4 was performed using the adapter 3 configured as described above, it was possible to add a centrifugal acceleration up to 2,000 × g without any problem. It was confirmed that it can withstand double centrifugal acceleration.

  In the present embodiment, the pad 14 is bonded to the adapter 3. However, the pad 14 is simply mounted. When the microplate 4 is attached to the centrifuge, the other is centrifuged. It is obvious that the same effect can be obtained even when the pad 14 is used after being mounted on the separator. Further, in this embodiment, the pad 14 and the adapter 3 are separate components, but the same effect can be obtained even if the shape of the bottom 11 of the adapter 3 is the same as that of the pad 14 described above.

  Next, a second embodiment of the microplate adapter used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since the adapter 3 is used by being attached to the bucket 2 of the rotor body 1 as described above, the smaller the weight of the adapter 3, the smaller the centrifugal force applied to the rotor body 1, which is advantageous in design. become. Therefore, it is desirable to make the pad 14 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 lighter as the first embodiment. In view of this, in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the pad 14 having the thinned portion 17 is bonded to the adapter 3. Since the thinning portion 17 is for reducing the mass of the adapter 3, the thinning method is somewhat free while considering that the microplate 4 is not damaged by the bending moment. The thinned portion 17 creates a portion that receives the plate bottom surface 9 of the microplate 4 and a portion that does not receive the portion, and a bending moment is applied between these portions, but a portion that does not receive the plate bottom surface 9 compared to the prior art. Since it becomes small, it becomes a structure which can endure higher centrifugal force than before. 3, the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4 is not received by the pad 14, but the weight of the portion of the box-shaped outer wall 7 is in the vicinity of the sample injection hole 5 into which the sample has been injected. Since it is comparatively small, the centrifugal acceleration of the portion of the box-shaped outer wall 7 is smaller than that in the vicinity of the sample injection hole 5, thereby making it difficult for the boundary portion 6 that has been generated in the conventional configuration to break. Yes.

  Next, a third embodiment of the adapter for microplate used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The third embodiment is different from the second embodiment described above in that a step 15 is provided on the outer periphery of the pad 14. The pad side surface 19 that is the outer peripheral surface of the step portion 15 is configured to be the same as or slightly larger than the inner diameter dimension of the adapter 3. As a result, the pad 14 is bonded to the adapter 15 in the second embodiment, whereas the pad 14 and the adapter 3 can be positioned and fixed by the pad side surface 19 in the third embodiment. It has no configuration. Also in the third embodiment, the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4 is not received by the pad 14 for the same reason as in the second embodiment.

  Next, a fourth embodiment of the adapter for microplate used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The fourth embodiment is greatly different from the first embodiment in that the plate pressing portion 20 is provided on the pad 14. The plate pressing portion 20 provided on the pad 14 regulates the relative movement between the pad 14 and the microplate 4, and thereby the microplate 4 is more reliably placed on the pad 14 at a predetermined place. Can do. Further, FIG. 6 discloses a configuration in which the plate pressing portion 20 presses the outer periphery of the microplate 4. However, the plate pressing portion 20 may be configured to press the inside of the box-shaped outer wall 7 of the microplate 4. .

  Next, a fifth embodiment of the adapter for microplate used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. If the adapter 3 and the pad 14 are configured as separate parts, the microplate 4 can be put on the centrifuge with the microplate 4 being stacked. As shown in FIG. 7, the pad 14 as described above is first placed on the bottom of the adapter 3, and the microplate 14 is placed thereon. Furthermore, by placing the pad 14 thereon, the second microplate 14 can be placed.

  Next, a sixth embodiment of the microplate adapter used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows a modification of the configuration of the pad 14 shown in FIG. The pad 14 shown in FIG. 8 is provided with a pad recess 21 having a size substantially equal to the size of the upper surface of the microplate 4 on the lower surface thereof. When the microplate 4 is overlapped in the same manner as in the fifth embodiment using the pad 14 configured as described above, the result is as shown in FIG. As can be seen from the configuration of FIG. 8, the pad 14 placed on the microplate 4 holds the upper surface of the microplate 4 by the pad recess 21 and restricts relative movement between the pad 14 and the microplate 4. is doing. When the pad 14 having such a pad recess 21 is placed on the adapter 3, the bottom portion 11 of the adapter 3 is flat, so that a gap 22 is generated between the pad 14 and the adapter 3. When the centrifuge is applied with the gap portion 22, a bending moment is generated in the pad recess 21 due to the centrifugal acceleration. However, if the pad 14 is made of an elastic body such as rubber, the pad 14 is bent by the elastic force of the pad 14 itself. Moments can be absorbed. Further, in order to eliminate the gap 22, the pad 14 placed at the lowest position is flat at the bottom (for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 7) and placed on the microplate 4. The pad 14 may be configured to have a pad recess 21.

  Next, a seventh embodiment of the adapter for microplate used in the centrifuge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 shows a configuration in which the shape of the bottom surface of the adapter 3 is the same as the shape of the top surface of the pad 14 described above, and the plate bottom surface 9 of the microplate 4 is directly received by the adapter 3, and the microplate 4 is further stacked and centrifuged. An engaging groove 23 having a width equivalent to that of the bent portions 12 and 13 of the adapter 3 is provided below the bent portions 12 and 13 in order to enable the machine to be hung. In this embodiment, the adapter 3 is configured as described above. However, instead of the adapter 3, the pad 14 may be configured in the same manner and attached to the adapter 3.

The external appearance perspective view which shows the 1st Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal side view showing a state where the adapter of FIG. 1 and the microplate are combined. The vertical side view which shows the state which combined the adapter and microplate which show the 2nd Example used for this invention centrifuge. The vertical side view which shows the 3rd Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. The external appearance perspective view of the adapter which shows the 4th Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. The vertical side view which shows the 4th Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. The vertical side view which shows the 5th Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. The vertical side view which shows the 6th Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. The vertical side view which shows the 7th Example of the adapter used for this invention centrifuge. The external appearance perspective view which shows the conventional rotor. The external appearance perspective view which shows the conventional adapter. The longitudinal side view which shows the microplate hold | maintained at the conventional adapter.

Explanation of symbols

1: Rotor body 2: Bucket 3: Adapter 4: Microplate 5: Sample injection hole 6: Boundary part 7: Box-shaped outer wall 9: Plate bottom 12: Bending part 13: Bending part 14: Pad 15: Step part 16: Upper surface portion 17: Thinning portion 19: Pad side surface 20: Plate presser portion 21: Pad recess portion 22: Gap portion 23: Engaging groove

Claims (1)

A swing rotor having a plurality of bucket storage portions and having a rotor body that rotates around a drive shaft and a bucket provided in the bucket storage portion so as to be swingable with respect to the rotor body;
When the microplate of a box-shaped container having a large number of sample injection holes is mounted on the bucket and the swing rotor is rotated, the sample injected into the sample injection unit is centrifuged by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation. Centrifuge
When the microplate is mounted on the bucket, the back bottom surface of the container having the multiple sample injection holes is in contact with the surface on which the microplate is placed, and the outer wall of the box-shaped container By making the surface facing the surface lower than the contacting mounting surface, the centrifugal force generated when the rotor is rotated is received by the contact surface, and the bending moment applied to the outer wall is reduced. Centrifuge characterized by.

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