JP2008308229A - Specimen-carrying container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a specimen-carrying container 80 with high safety. <P>SOLUTION: A primary container 90 which is a specimen container storing a specimen is wholly surrounded by a sheet-like absorbing material 91 to form a primary package 92. The primary package is surrounded by a first sheet-like cushioning material 93 to form a secondary package 94. The secondary package 94 is surrounded by a second sheet-like cushioning material 95 to form a tertiary package 96, and stored in a secondary container 50 being a hermetic container. The secondary container 50 is surrounded by a third sheet-like cushioning material 60 and stored in a tertiary container 70 being an external box container to form a specimen-carrying container 80. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a specimen transport container, and although not limited thereto, the present invention particularly relates to a transport container suitable for transporting infectious substances and diagnostic specimens.

  In recent years, high safety has been demanded for containers for transporting infectious substances on aviation and sea, and the World Insurance Organization (WHO) has provided guidelines on the rules for transporting infectious substances. In addition, in the UN standard, strict inspection standards are set for such a transport container. For example, PI620 includes a combination container including a primary container and a secondary container as a category A for transporting infectious specimens. In PI650, as the category B, the inspection standard for the combination container including the primary and secondary containers for transporting the diagnostic specimen is set.

  Here, the primary container is a container that directly stores an infectious sample or a diagnostic sample, and the secondary container is a container that further stores a primary container that stores the sample. The secondary container has an internal pressure of 95 kPa or more and −40 ° C. to + 55 ° C. so that the specimen contained in the primary container can be prevented from leaking outside when a problem occurs in the primary container during transportation. It is required to maintain airtightness at temperatures in the range of. Moreover, the said standard has prescribed | regulated the strict test | inspection standard about a drop test and a burst test also with respect to the packaging material (tertiary container) when transporting a secondary container.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a transport container for transporting a specimen that satisfies such criteria. There, first, a primary container containing a specimen is wrapped with a bubble-containing buffer sheet. The resin container with a lid, which is a secondary container, is divided into a plurality of compartments, and an absorbent material such as a cotton ball is embedded in the bottom. The primary container wrapped with the above-mentioned bubble-containing cushioning sheet is accommodated in a resin container as a secondary container so as to ride on the buried absorbent material, and then a pressure-tight airtight container is formed by closing the lid. . The secondary container containing the primary container is wrapped in a cushioning material such as cardboard on the outer periphery, and the sample is stored in a cardboard outer box container that is a tertiary container in a state where the entire container is placed in a plastic bag. It is used as a transport container for transport.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,893

  The transport container described in Patent Document 1 stores a primary container containing a specimen in an airtight secondary container in a state of being wrapped in a bubble-containing cushioning sheet, and further wraps the secondary container with a buffer material that is cardboard. It is considered to have high safety against impact from the outside because it is housed in a corrugated tertiary container. Even if the primary container is damaged and the specimen leaks from the primary container, the leaked specimen is absorbed by the absorbent material embedded in the secondary container, and the secondary or tertiary container is damaged. Even in such a case, it is considered that the sample can be prevented from leaking to the outside to some extent.

  However, the absorbent material such as the cotton ball is embedded in the bottom of the secondary container, and although in a small number of cases, depending on the orientation of the primary container, that is, the transport container is turned upside down or rolls over. If the primary container is damaged in a posture, etc., the specimen leaked from the primary container will not be sufficiently absorbed by the absorbent material, and some specimens may leak out. , Can not be completely denied.

  If the sample is an infectious substance etc., the possibility of such leakage should be avoided, although it is slight, and a safer transport container with higher leakage prevention measures is required. . This invention is made | formed in view of the above situations, and makes it a subject to provide the sample conveyance container provided with higher safety | security.

  A specimen transport container according to the present invention can surround a sheet-like absorbent material that can surround the entire primary container that is a specimen container containing a specimen, and a primary package that surrounds the primary container with the sheet-like absorbent material. 1 sheet-like cushioning material, a second sheet-like cushioning material capable of enclosing a secondary packaging body in which the primary packaging body is enclosed by the first sheet-like cushioning material, and the secondary packaging body as the second packaging body. A secondary container that can accommodate a tertiary package surrounded by a sheet-like cushioning material, a third sheet-like cushioning material that can surround at least a side surface of the secondary container containing the tertiary package, and a tertiary container that is an outer box container And.

  In the sample transport container, the primary container, which is a sample container containing a sample, is entirely surrounded by a sheet-like absorbent material to form a primary package. Therefore, when the specimen leaks from the primary container for some reason, all the leaked specimen is absorbed by the sheet-like absorbent regardless of the orientation of the primary container at that time. The primary package is surrounded by the first sheet cushioning material to form a secondary package, and leakage of the specimen to the outside is reliably prevented there.

  In the sample transport container, the secondary package is further surrounded by a second sheet-like cushioning material to form a tertiary package, which is accommodated in a secondary container that is an airtight container. Is housed in a tertiary container, which is an outer box container, with at least a side surface surrounded by a third sheet-like cushioning material, and has high resistance to external impact. Therefore, it is possible to reliably avoid the occurrence of damage to the primary container due to an external impact such as a drop that may occur during transportation.

  In the present invention, examples of the sheet-like absorbent material include a water-absorbent sheet, paper, and non-woven fabric. Among these, a water-absorbent sheet having a water-absorbing polymer is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of water absorption and ease of handling.

  In the sample transport container according to the present invention, the first sheet-like cushioning material surrounding the primary package may be any sheet as long as it has a cushioning property, and is preferably non-breathable. From the viewpoint of lightness and ease of handling, a sheet-like bubble-containing cushioning material made of a resin film such as a polyethylene-based resin is more preferable, and a bubble-containing cushioning material having a three-layer resin film structure is more preferable. In any case, it is preferable to provide an adhesive layer, particularly preferably a sheet-like bubble-containing cushioning material having adhesiveness. By providing the adhesive layer on the surface, when the primary package is surrounded by the first sheet-like cushioning material, higher airtightness can be ensured, and the specimen may leak from the primary package. Even if it occurs, it is possible to more reliably prevent the specimen from leaking beyond the secondary package. There are no particular restrictions on the adhesive material, but a styrene / ethylenebutyl / olefin crystal block copolymer is preferred.

  In the sample transport container according to the present invention, the second sheet-like cushioning material may be any sheet as long as it has a cushioning property. It may be a foamed resin sheet. However, from the viewpoint of lightness and ease of handling, a sheet-like bubble-containing cushioning material made of a resin film is more preferred, and a more preferred bubble-containing cushioning material has a three-layer resin film structure. In addition, although the method of surrounding the said secondary package with the 2nd sheet-like shock absorbing material and making it into a tertiary package may be arbitrary, the 2nd sheet-like shock absorbing material is expand | deployed to the opening part side of a secondary container. The second package is inserted into a recess formed by pushing the second sheet-like cushioning material into the secondary container from above, and then the second sheet remaining around The method of pushing the cushioning material into the secondary container so as to wrap the inserted secondary packaging body is easy, and the entire secondary packaging body (upper, lower, left and right surroundings) This is a preferred method because it can be reliably wrapped with a sheet-like cushioning material.

  In the sample transport container according to the present invention, the third sheet-like cushioning material may be any sheet as long as it has a cushioning property. It may be a foamed resin sheet. However, it is preferably a corrugated cardboard and more preferably a single corrugated cardboard because it is easy to absorb impacts from the outside and is light and easy to handle. The third sheet-like cushioning material is preferably used so as to involve the outer periphery of the secondary container.

  In the sample transporting container according to the present invention, the material of the tertiary container is not particularly limited, but is preferably a corrugated cardboard box because it has moderate buffering and shock absorption.

  In the sample transport container according to the present invention, the secondary container can be made into an arbitrary shape using an arbitrary material as long as it has the required airtightness, pressure resistance and mechanical strength. However, a container main body having an external thread formed on the outer peripheral surface of the upper end side, a peripheral wall closely contacting the inner peripheral surface of the upper end side of the container main body, a bottom plate continuous to the lower edge of the peripheral wall, and a flange extending horizontally from the upper edge of the peripheral wall It is particularly preferable that the airtight container is made of a resin material, and includes an inner lid provided and an outer lid provided with an inner screw threadedly engaged with an outer screw formed on the container body.

  The secondary container can enter the region defined by the peripheral wall and the bottom plate of the inner lid, and the upper surface of the secondary container has a thickness that is higher than the upper surface of the flange of the inner lid. It may be an airtight container further provided with an embedding material.

  In a conventionally known airtight container with an inner lid, when the inner pressure of the container is increased, the bottom plate of the inner lid is curved upward, and the deformation of the bottom plate is caused between the inner lid and the container body. May adversely affect the tightness between the two and the tightness between the inner lid and the outer lid, thereby reducing hermeticity and failing to maintain high hermeticity. In particular, when the hermetic container is placed in a low temperature state of about -40 ° C, the decrease in hermeticity becomes significant. At a low temperature, the material constituting the container shrinks, and it is considered that the deformation due to the shrinkage of the material constituting the inner lid in particular causes a decrease in airtightness.

  As described above, when using a secondary container provided with a plate-like embedding material, the inner lid is screwed and fixed with the embedding material inserted into the inner lid, so that the inner lid can be driven at a high internal pressure. The bottom plate can be prevented from bending toward the outer lid side by the embedded material that has entered between the inner lid and the outer lid. Thereby, even when the specimen transport container is used in a low temperature environment, high airtightness is ensured. The present inventors have experimentally confirmed that airtightness can be maintained at an internal pressure of 95 kPa or more and a temperature of −40 ° C. in the case of a secondary container provided with a plate-like embedding material.

  The shape of the embedding material is preferably a flat plate shape, and its outer diameter is preferably approximately the same as or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the inner lid. The material of the embedding material is not particularly limited as long as it has a mechanical strength sufficient to withstand the pressure in the container, but a foamed resin material and a foamed rubber material are preferable. A foamed resin material is preferable because it is excellent in lightness and handleability and has an appropriate compressibility, and foamed polystyrene having an expansion ratio of about 20 to 70 times is particularly preferable.

  As for the shape of the embedding material, in addition to the flat plate shape described above, a hole (through hole) is formed from the upper surface of the flat plate shape to the lower surface, and the hole and the outer peripheral surface of the embedding material are formed. It is more preferable that it is a form provided with one notch to communicate. For example, when the peripheral wall of the inner lid is formed in a cylindrical shape, airtightness can be improved by adopting a form in which this embedding material has substantially the same diameter as the peripheral wall and has a donut shape in plan view. According to such an embedding material, a notch having a predetermined width leading to the central hole and the outer peripheral surface is formed, so that the outer diameter size of the embedding material and the inner diameter size of the inner lid peripheral wall are approximately the same. Even in such a case, the embedding material can be elastically deformed to a small dimension by the notch width by a manual pressing force, and the installation work is facilitated by entering the inner lid in this posture. Similarly, it can be easily removed from the inner lid. Further, when the airtight container is in a low temperature state as described above and the inner lid and the outer lid are contracted and deformed, the embedding material is elastically deformed to a small size by at least the notch width, and the inner cover and the like are contracted and deformed. Can follow.

  Furthermore, the thickness of the embedding material is preferably about 2 to 5 mm thicker than the distance from the bottom plate of the inner lid to the top surface of the flange. With this thickness, the outer lid can be used to press the bottom of the inner lid toward the inside of the container with an appropriate pressure, and it is possible to reliably suppress the deformation of the bottom plate of the inner lid due to the pressure in the container. it can. Most preferably, the material of the embedding material is an elastic material and has a thickness as described above.

  The sample transport container according to the present invention is not limited, but is effective as a sample transport container that can be transported at room temperature. Examples of specimens that can be transported at room temperature include bacteria such as anthrax and tuberculosis.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a specimen transport container that can reliably prevent the contained specimen from being exposed to the outside even if the primary container is damaged. In addition, by using a secondary container having a specific structure, a specimen transport container that can clear a drop test or the like prescribed in UN standards (PI 620, PI 650) for containers for transporting dangerous goods can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an example of a sample transport container according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment with reference to the drawings. First, an example of a secondary container that is an airtight container used in the specimen transport container according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a secondary container which is an airtight container, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the inner lid and the embedding material, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the outer lid is closed, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an airtight state by closing the outer lid.

An airtight container 50 (hereinafter, a secondary container that is an airtight container) having a form shown in FIG. 1 includes a bottomed cylindrical container body 10 made of a resin material. An upper end edge 11 of the container body 10 is a horizontal plane, and an outer screw 12 is integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface on the upper end side. In this example, the container body 10 is an integrally molded product of HDPE (high density polyethylene, linear expansion coefficient 11 to 13 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K ⁻¹ ).

An inner lid 20 made of a resin material is attached to the upper open portion of the container body 10. The inner lid 20 includes a peripheral wall 21 that is at least partially in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the upper end side of the container body 10 over the entire periphery, a bottom plate 22 that is continuous with the lower edge of the peripheral wall 21, and an upper surface of the peripheral wall 21. And a flange 23 extending horizontally from the edge. In this example, the inner lid 20 is an integrally molded product of LDPE (low density polyethylene, linear expansion coefficient 16 to 18 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K ⁻¹ ). The illustrated inner lid 20 also has an inner flange 24 on the inner surface side of the peripheral wall 21 in order to facilitate removal.

  Although not essential, the airtight container 50 can enter the region S defined by the peripheral wall 21 and the bottom plate 22 of the inner lid 20, and the upper surface 31 of the airtight container 50 in the state of entering the flange 23 of the inner lid 20. A plate-like embedding material 30 having a thickness b higher than the upper surface is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, when the distance from the inner surface of the bottom plate 22 of the inner lid 20 to the upper surface of the flange 23 is h, the thickness b of the embedding material 30 is (h + a), where 0 <A, and usually a is about 2 mm to 5 mm.

  As shown in the figure, the above-described embedding material 30 is a flat surface and has a disk shape having an upper surface 31, a lower surface 32, and a peripheral surface 33 that are parallel to each other, and the diameter thereof is the inner diameter of the inner flange 24 of the inner lid 20. It is almost equal to the dimension. Further, a hole 34 is formed in the center for easy handling, but this hole 34 may be omitted. In this example, the embedding material 30 is made of an elastic material, and examples of the elastic material include a foamed resin material and a foamed rubber material.

  Further, an embedding material 30A as shown in FIG. 3 can be used. The embedding material 30A is made of an elastic material such as a foamed resin material or a foamed rubber material, like the embedding material 30, and the shape of the embedding material 30A having a hole 34 in the center is a donut shape. A notch 35 communicating with the hole 34 and the peripheral surface 33 is formed. The inventors of the present invention manufactured an embedding material 30A having the same diameter as the peripheral wall 21 of the inner lid 20, and inserted the embedding material 30A into the inner lid 20 or removed it from the inner lid 20 during the work. The quality of workability was verified. As a result, when the notch 35 having a predetermined width is formed, the embedding material 30A is manually deformed to a small size by pressing the embedding material 30A in the circumferential direction, and the embedding material 30A is taken out in that posture. It has been demonstrated that the ease of removal is improved compared to the case of the embedding material 30.

  The width of the notch 35 is preferably about 2 to 9 mm in an embedding material 30A having an outer diameter of 110 mm and a thickness of about 15 mm, which will be described later. If the width is too small, the amount of deformation in the circumferential direction is small, which does not improve workability. If the width is too large, the amount of deformation until the end surfaces sandwiching the notch 35 are brought into contact with each other by manual pressing force. This is because it becomes excessive and there is a risk of damaging the embedding material 30A itself.

The hermetic container 50 according to the present invention further includes an outer lid 40 made of a resin material provided with an inner screw 41 screwed to an outer screw 12 formed on the container body 10 on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 42. In this example, the outer lid 40 is an integrally molded product of PP (polypropylene, linear expansion coefficient 6 to 10 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K ⁻¹ ). The back surface of the top plate 43 of the outer lid 40 is a substantially flat surface. As will be described later, when the container main body 10 is screw-engaged, the back surface of the top plate 43 is connected to the upper surface 31 of the embedding material 30 and the middle. The lid 20 comes into contact with the upper surface of the flange 23.

  In using the airtight container 50, a container (a tertiary package surrounded by a second sheet-like cushioning material, which will be described later) is accommodated in the container body 10. Next, the inner lid 20 is attached to the upper open part of the container body 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower surface of the flange 23 of the inner lid 20 is in close contact with the upper end edge 11 of the container body 10, and a part of the peripheral wall 21 of the inner lid 20 is on the upper end side of the container body 10 over the entire circumference. It is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface. Next, the embedding material 30 is put into a region S defined by the inner side of the peripheral wall 21 of the inner lid 20 and the bottom plate 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the bottom surface 32 of the embedding material 30 is substantially in close contact with the bottom plate 22 of the inner lid 20, and in this state, the upper surface 31 of the inner lid 20 is more than the upper surface of the flange 23 of the inner lid 20. The position is higher by the distance a.

  Next, the outer lid 40 is tightened while being rotated in a state where the inner screw 41 is screwed to the outer screw 12 formed on the container body 10. The state after tightening is shown in FIG. By tightening the outer lid 40 by screw fitting, the upper surface 31 of the embedding material 30 is gradually compressed while being pressed against the top surface 43 of the outer lid 40, and is compressed to the same level as the upper surface of the flange 23 of the inner lid 20. The The compression force also acts as a force that pushes down the bottom plate 22 of the inner lid 20. Thereby, the adhesion force in the contact area between the inner lid 20 and the container body 10, the contact area between the inner lid 20 and the outer lid 40, and the contact area between the container body 10 and the outer lid 40 is further increased.

  Assume that a high pressure is applied to the inside of the container body 10 in this state. As described above, a high downward pressure is applied to the bottom plate 22 of the inner lid 20 by the function of the embedding material 30, and deformation of the bottom plate 22 of the inner lid 20 due to the internal pressure in the container body 10 can be suppressed. Thereby, it can prevent that the airtightness in the above-mentioned close region falls, and high airtightness is maintained as it is. Furthermore, when the resin material is placed in a cryogenic environment such as −40 ° C., the resin material tends to shrink, but the shrinkage can also be suppressed by the force acting on the inner lid 20 via the embedding material 30. It can prevent effectively that airtightness falls.

  This hermeticity deterioration preventing function is naturally maintained even when the airtight container 50 is placed in a high temperature environment. In addition, when using the airtight container 50 in a normal temperature environment, the resin material does not shrink. Therefore, the required airtightness can be maintained without using the above-described embedding material 30.

  Next, the sample transport container 80 according to the present invention will be described together with its work procedure, taking as an example the case of using the airtight container 50 as a secondary container, with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 shows an example of a primary container 90 that contains a specimen, and the primary container 90 is usually water-resistant and leak-proof. The specimen stored in the primary container 90 does not exceed the total amount of 50 ml. FIG. 7 shows an example of a sheet-like absorbent material 91, which is made, for example, by mixing a water-absorbing polymer into a paper material.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8, a primary container 90 which is a specimen container containing a specimen is placed on a sheet-like absorbent material 91, and the primary container 90 is rolled up by the sheet-like absorbent material 91, as shown in FIG. In addition, the primary package 92 is used. In the illustrated primary packaging body 92, the periphery of the primary container 90 is wound in multiple layers by a sheet-like absorbent material 91, and the upper and lower sides are open, but as will be described later, the secondary packaging body 94 is formed. At this stage, the entire primary container 90 is encased in the sheet-like absorbent material 91.

  Next, the primary packaging body 92 described above is wrapped with a first sheet-like cushioning material 93. The first sheet-like cushioning material 93 may be a thin sheet made of foamed resin, but is preferably a bubble-containing cushioning material made of a three-layer resin film structure. As the resin film, a polyethylene-based resin film is suitable, and preferably, an appropriate pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to the inner surface of the first sheet-like cushioning material 93. FIG. 10A shows a state in which the primary packaging body 92 is placed on the first sheet-shaped cushioning material 93. By winding the primary packaging body 92 with the first sheet-shaped cushioning material 93, FIG. The secondary package 94 shown in b) is obtained. In this state, since the upper and lower sides of the secondary package 94 are open, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the primary package 92 is entirely folded by folding the upper end side and the lower end side. 1 sheet cushioning material 93 is wrapped.

  As described above, in the secondary package 94 in the state shown in FIG. 10C, the entire primary container 90 containing the specimen is surrounded by the sheet-like absorbent material 91, and the whole is the first package. It will be in the state surrounded by the sheet-like buffer material 93. FIG. Therefore, even if a specimen leaks from the primary container 90, all of the leaked specimen is absorbed by the sheet-like absorbent material 91. Even in the case where the specimen leaks from the sheet-like absorbent material 91, the primary packaging body 92 is entirely surrounded by the first sheet-like cushioning material 93, so that the specimen leakage is reliably prevented there.

  When using the first sheet-like cushioning material 93 having an inner surface coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive, the adhesion between the laminated cushioning materials is improved. As described above, even if the specimen leaks from the primary package 92 to the outside, it can be more reliably prevented from leaking beyond the secondary package 94.

  Although not shown, in order to more stably wrap the entire primary container 90 with the sheet-like absorbent material 91, the upper end side and the lower end side of the sheet-like absorbent material 91 in the primary package 92 in the state shown in FIG. Folded sideways in advance, the upper and lower sides of the primary container 90 are also wrapped in the sheet-like absorbent material 91, and the primary package 92 in this state is in the first sheet form as shown in FIG. You may make it wrap with the buffer material 93. FIG.

  The above-described secondary package 94 is accommodated in the secondary container 50 that is the above-described airtight container. At that time, in order to secure further buffering properties, the secondary package 94 is surrounded by a second sheet-like cushioning material 95 to form a tertiary package 96. The second sheet-like cushioning material 95 may be a thin sheet made of foamed resin, but is preferably a bubble-containing cushioning material made of a two-layer or three-layer resin film structure. As the resin film, a polyethylene resin film is suitable.

  Although the work procedure to enclose is arbitrary, as shown in FIG. 11, the second sheet-like cushioning material 95 having a required size is placed on the opening of the container body 10 constituting the secondary container 50 described above. Put it in an expanded state. Then, as shown in FIG. 12A, the second sheet cushioning material 95 is pushed into the container body 10. Thereby, the second sheet-like cushioning material 95 functioning as a cushioning material is located on the bottom surface and the entire inner side surface of the peripheral surface of the container body 10, and further, above the opening of the container body 10, The remaining portion of the second sheet-like cushioning material 95 is in a protruding state.

  The secondary package 94 in the posture shown in FIG. 10C is put into the internal space region made of the second sheet-like cushioning material 95 in the posture. The state is shown in FIG. After the secondary package 94 is inserted, the second sheet-like cushioning material 95 protruding from the container body 10 is pushed into the container body 10, as shown in FIG. The packaging body 94 is a tertiary packaging body 96 that is entirely surrounded by the second sheet-like cushioning material 95, and is accommodated in the container body 10.

  Thereafter, as described based on FIGS. 1 to 5, the inner lid 20 is attached to the container body 10. If necessary, the embedding material 30 (or 30A) is placed in the inner lid 20 and the outer lid 40 is screwed and fixed, so that the entire secondary package 94 is first assembled as shown in FIG. The tertiary package 96 surrounded by the two sheet cushions 95 is housed in the secondary container 50 that is an airtight container.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 13B, a third sheet-like cushioning material 60 such as a single cardboard is wound around the outer side of the peripheral side surface of the secondary container 50 containing the tertiary package 96, and this is shown in FIG. It accommodates in the tertiary container 70 which is an outer box container like the cardboard box shown to (c). Then, by performing the necessary sealing work, as shown in FIG. 14, the specimen transport container 80 according to the present invention is obtained.

  The sample transport container 80 according to the present invention appropriately sets the physical property values of the first, second and third sheet-like cushioning materials 93, 95 and 60, the strength of the secondary and tertiary containers 50 and 70, etc. It can be set as the packaging material which clears the drop test and burst test which the above-mentioned UN specification sets. In addition, even when a specimen leaks from the primary container 90, the specimen transport container 80 that does not leak the specimen to the outside can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, it will be described that the secondary container 50 which is the above-described airtight container has high airtightness by one experimental example.

1. An airtight container and an embedding material having the shapes shown in FIGS.
A container body 10 having an inner diameter of 120 mm, a container height of 125 mm, and a thickness of 2 mm was integrally molded with HDPE (high density polyethylene, linear expansion coefficient of 11 to 13 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K ⁻¹ ).

The inner lid 20 has an outer diameter of 120 mm, a depth from the flange surface to the bottom plate of 12 mm, a flange width of 4 mm, and a thickness of 2 mm as LDPE (low density polyethylene, linear expansion coefficient of 16 to 18 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K). ^-1 ).

The outer lid 40 had an outer diameter of 125 mm and a height of 17 mm, and was integrally formed of PP (polypropylene, linear expansion coefficient 6 to 10 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K ⁻¹ ).

The embedding material 30 had an outer diameter of 110 mm, a thickness of 15 mm, and was molded from expanded polystyrene with a magnification of 30 times. The linear expansion coefficient of the expanded polystyrene used is 6 to 8 × 10 ⁻⁵ · K ⁻¹ .

2. The inner lid 20 was attached to the container body 10, the embedding material 30 was put into the inner lid 20, and the outer lid 40 was tightened by screw fitting to form an airtight container 50.

3. A hole was made in the bottom surface of the container body 10, and an air hose with a gauge connected to the compressor was placed in the container body 10 and sealed. The compressor was operated and an internal pressure of 130 kPa was applied in the airtight container 50. In that state, it was left in a freezer at −40 ° C. for 30 minutes. The internal pressure in the airtight container 50 after leaving for 30 minutes was 98 kPa. When water leakage was applied to the screw fitting portion of the outer lid 40 to evaluate air leakage, no air leakage was observed.

4). In the same manner as described above, an airtight container 50 with an internal pressure of 130 kPa was prepared. It was attached to an antifreeze solution (ethylene glycol solution) cooled to −40 ° C., and air leakage from the screw fitting portion of the outer lid 40 was evaluated. During the evaluation, the internal pressure was maintained at 95 kPa. After all, there was no air leak.

  Next, a drop test based on the UN standard inspection standard performed on the sample transport container 80 according to the present invention using the above airtight container as the secondary container 50 will be described. In the test, a glass standard bottle (manufactured by ASONE Co., Ltd., product number 5-130-06) with an outer diameter of 47 mm and a height of 90 mm is used as the primary container 90, and 100 cc of ethylene glycol, which is an antifreeze solution, is enclosed therein did. The 270 mm × 155 mm sheet-shaped absorbent 91 (manufactured by San-M Package Co., Ltd., linerpkin (paper), containing 1.25 g of Sunfresh ST-572 as a water-absorbing polymer) is packaged, and the form shown in FIG. The primary package 92 was obtained.

  The primary package 92 is a first sheet-like cushioning material 93 (210 mm × 210 mm in size, which is a bubble-containing cushioning material having a three-layer resin film structure, and having an adhesive applied on the inner surface side. Wrapped using Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., # 641SL, 79% or more polyethylene resin, adhesive: styrene / styrene butadiene / olefin crystal block copolymer), secondary packaging in the form shown in FIG. It was set as the body 94.

  A second sheet-like cushioning material 95 (manufactured by Izumi Co., Ltd., VSL-100C, material resin: polyethylene) that is a bubble-containing cushioning material having a size of 210 mm × 530 mm and having a three-layer resin film structure is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, the secondary package 94 is placed in an expanded state on the opening of the container body 10 constituting the secondary container 50, and the secondary package 94 is placed in the procedure shown in FIGS. The tertiary package 96 wrapped with the second sheet-like cushioning material 95 was accommodated in the container body 10 of the secondary container 50. As shown in FIG. 13A, the inner lid 20 is attached to the container body 10 containing the tertiary package 96, the embedding material 30 is inserted into the inner lid 20, and the outer lid 40 is tightened by screw fitting. The secondary container 50 was an airtight container containing the tertiary package 96.

As shown in FIG. 13 (b), on the outer side of the peripheral side surface of the secondary container 50 containing the tertiary package 96, a single-stage cardboard having a width of 140 mm and a length of 2500 mm (manufactured by Tanatsukus Co., Ltd., Kureshi D4 special core A- F, medium basis weight 115 g / m ² , liner basis weight 120 g / m ² ) was wound as the third sheet-like cushioning material 60. Several of the same were prepared.

A cardboard outer box container having a shape shown in FIG. 13C and having an inner dimension of 177 mm × 170 mm × 147 mm (height) was prepared as the tertiary container 70. The corrugated board is A-stage (manufactured by Yamada Corrugated Co., Ltd.), and the basis weight (g / m ² ) (plate part / wave part / plate part) is (220/160/220), (280/160/280), Three types of tertiary containers 70 were prepared using three types of A stages (440/160/440). Each of them accommodates a third sheet-like cushioning material 60 such as cardboard wrapped around the outer side surface of the secondary container 50 containing the tertiary package 96 shown in FIG. 13 (b), A plurality of specimen transport containers 80 containing the primary container 90 shown in FIG. 14 were prepared.

  After the specimen transport container 80 containing the primary container 90 is left in a thermostatic chamber in an environment of −18 ° C. for 24 hours, a bottom vertical drop test is performed from a height of 9 m that satisfies the inspection standard of the UN standard. The presence or absence of damage was observed. The results are shown in Table 1.

表１において、○：一次容器に破損がない。×：一次容器に破損がある。

In Table 1, ○: The primary container is not damaged. X: The primary container is damaged.

  From the result of the drop test performed by changing the basis weight of the cardboard constituting the sample transport container 80 described above, when the sample transport container according to the present invention, in particular, the tertiary container is a cardboard box, the basis weight of the cardboard is appropriately selected. By doing this, it can be seen that a specimen transport container that clears the UN standard (drop test) can be obtained.

The figure which decomposes | disassembles and shows one Embodiment of the secondary container which is an airtight container used in the sample conveyance container by this invention. The figure for demonstrating the relationship between the inner cover and an embedding material. The figure which shows the other form of an embedding material. The figure which shows the state before carrying out an outer cover in a cross section. Sectional drawing of the state made into the airtight state by closing an outer cover. The figure which shows an example of the primary container which accommodates the sample. The figure which shows an example of a sheet-like absorber. The figure for demonstrating the state which wraps a primary container with a sheet-like absorber. The figure for demonstrating a primary package. It is a figure for demonstrating the procedure which wraps a primary packaging body with the 1st sheet-like buffer material, and makes it a secondary packaging body, Fig.10 (a) is before winding a primary packaging body with a 1st sheet-like cushioning material. FIG. 10 (b) shows the state after the winding, and FIG. 10 (c) shows the secondary package body entirely wrapped with the first sheet-like cushioning material. The figure which shows the state which put the 2nd sheet-like shock absorbing material on the secondary container. It is a figure explaining an example of the procedure which accommodates a secondary package in the container main body of the secondary container which is an airtight container, and Fig.12 (a) is the state which pushed in the 2nd sheet-like buffer material in the container main body FIG. 12B shows a state in which the secondary package is inserted therein, and FIG. 12C shows a state in which the secondary package is wrapped with the second sheet-like cushioning material. FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the secondary package that is entirely surrounded by the second sheet-shaped cushioning material is housed in a secondary container that is an airtight container, and FIG. 13B is a secondary view. The figure which wrapped the container with the 3rd sheet-like shock absorbing material shock absorbing material, FIG.13 (c) is a figure which shows a tertiary container. The figure which shows the sample conveyance container by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  90 ... Primary container for containing specimen, 91 ... Sheet-like absorbent material, 92 ... Primary package, 93 ... First sheet-like cushioning material, 94 ... Secondary package, 95 ... Second sheet-like cushioning material, 96 ... tertiary package, 50 ... secondary container which is an airtight container, 60 ... third sheet cushioning material, 70 ... tertiary container, 80 ... sample transport container, 10 ... container body, 11 ... upper end of container body Rim, 12 ... outer screw of container body, 20 ... inner lid, 21 ... peripheral wall of inner lid, 22 ... bottom plate of inner lid, 23 ... flange of inner lid, 24 ... inner flange of inner lid, S ... peripheral wall of inner lid , 30A ... embedding material, 31 ... upper surface of the embedding material, 32 ... lower surface of the embedding material, 34 ... hole of the embedding material, 35 ... notch, 40 ... outer lid , 41 ... inner screw of outer lid, 42 ... peripheral wall of outer lid, 43 ... top plate of outer lid

Claims (8)

A sheet-like absorbent material that can surround the entire primary container, which is a specimen container containing a specimen;
A first sheet-like cushioning material that can surround a primary package that surrounds the primary container with the sheet-like absorbent material;
A second sheet-like cushioning material that can surround a secondary packaging body in which the primary packaging body is enclosed by the first sheet-like cushioning material;
A secondary container that can accommodate a tertiary package that surrounds the secondary package with the second sheet-like cushioning material;
A third sheet-like cushioning material that can surround at least a side surface of the secondary container containing the tertiary package;
A tertiary container which is an outer box container;
A specimen transport container comprising:   The specimen transport container according to claim 1, wherein the first sheet-like cushioning material is a bubble-containing cushioning material having adhesiveness.   The specimen transport container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second sheet-like cushioning material is a bubble-containing cushioning material.   The specimen transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the third sheet-like cushioning material is cardboard.   The specimen transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tertiary container is a cardboard box.   The secondary container is horizontally disposed from a container main body having an external thread formed on an outer peripheral surface on the upper end side, a peripheral wall in close contact with the inner peripheral surface on the upper end side of the container main body, a bottom plate continuous to the lower edge of the peripheral wall, and an upper edge of the peripheral wall. An airtight container made of a resin material, comprising an inner lid having an extending flange and an outer lid having an inner screw threadedly engaged with an outer screw formed on the container body. The specimen transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   The secondary container can enter the region defined by the peripheral wall and the bottom plate of the inner lid, and the upper surface of the secondary container has a thickness that is higher than the upper surface of the flange of the inner lid. The specimen transport container according to claim 6, wherein the specimen transport container is an airtight container further provided with an embedding material.   The specimen transport according to claim 7, wherein the implant includes a hole that communicates from the upper surface to the lower surface, and a notch that communicates with the hole and an outer peripheral surface of the implant. container.

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