JP2009276252A - Reagent container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reagent container for an automatic analyzer restraining generation of waves and bubbles in the container, accompanying conveyance and sucking of an exact amount of reagent. <P>SOLUTION: This plate-type restraint member 5 is held by the reagent container 1 for the automatic analyzer which accommodates the reagent applied to the automatic analyzer for analyzing a sample and reacts with the sample. The restraint member 5 has a suction hole 6 for dispensing reagent and by floating on the reagent 8 surface accommodated in the reagent container and coating the reagent surface, reduces the waves and bubbles generated during conveyance by the self weight of the restraint member 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reagent container for an automatic analyzer that is applied to an automatic analyzer that automatically analyzes a specimen such as blood or body fluid and that contains a reagent that causes a reaction with the specimen.

  Conventionally, an automatic analyzer is known as a device for biochemically or immunologically analyzing a specimen such as blood or body fluid. In this automatic analyzer, a sample and a reagent are added to a reaction vessel, and a component generated in the reaction vessel is analyzed by optically detecting a reaction occurring in the reaction vessel. Reagents used for this analysis are previously injected into a predetermined reagent container and stored in a reagent tray that can store a plurality of reagent containers. The reagent tray is mounted on a table or belt conveyor that is rotated by the drive control of the control unit of the automatic analyzer. When a reagent is aspirated from the reagent container stored in the reagent tray, a probe for aspiration is used. After moving the table or the conveyor to a position where a desired reagent can be sucked, the probe is lowered to a predetermined position in the reagent container to suck the reagent. The reagent aspirated with the probe is then dispensed into the reaction vessel.

  When transporting the reagent container to a predetermined position, waves may be generated or bubbles may be generated on the liquid surface due to the acceleration / deceleration operation or centrifugal force applied to the reagent container. The reagent may come into contact with the tip of the probe above the liquid level when it is stationary. The probe tip is equipped with a mechanism that detects the liquid level according to the contact position with the reagent, and once the probe has come into contact with the reagent, the probe stops descending and starts aspirating the reagent. Is different from the stationary liquid level, it was difficult to aspirate an accurate amount of reagent.

  In order to prevent the generation of waves and bubbles on the reagent liquid surface as described above, a reagent container provided with an obstacle that increases fluid resistance inside (for example, refer to Patent Document 1), a plurality of particles on the liquid surface A liquid storage container provided with a floating ball has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2003-194828 A JP 2006-281589 A

  However, although the anti-rippling means due to obstacles in the reagent container of Patent Document 1 has a certain effect in preventing the occurrence of undulations and bubbles, the undulations generated by the force applied to the reagent container are reflected on the inner wall surface and cause complicated movement. Therefore, it is difficult to completely suppress waves and bubbles.

  Moreover, in the liquid container of Patent Document 2, since floating balls are spread on the liquid surface, a probe for sucking a reagent collides with the floating ball, and there is a risk of erroneous detection or probe breakage.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reagent container capable of suppressing generation of waves and bubbles in the container accompanying conveyance and aspirating an accurate amount of reagent. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the reagent container of the present invention is applied to an automatic analyzer that analyzes a sample, and is used for an automatic analyzer that contains a reagent that reacts with the sample. The reagent container has a suction hole for dispensing a reagent, and includes a plate-like suppressing member that floats on the reagent liquid surface accommodated in the reagent container and covers the reagent liquid surface. .

  In the reagent container of the present invention, the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the suppressing member is substantially the same as the reagent liquid surface shape in the reagent container.

  Moreover, the reagent container of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the vertical side surface of the suppressing member that contacts the inner wall of the reagent container is rounded in the vertical direction.

  Moreover, the reagent container of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, a corner portion of a horizontal section of the suppressing member is rounded in a horizontal plane.

  In the reagent container of the present invention, in the above invention, the external air contact surface of the suppressing member is formed with an inclined surface that descends from the reagent container inner wall contact surface side toward the suction hole side. And

  The reagent container of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the suppressing member is a flexible material.

  The reagent container of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, at least the surface of the suppressing member is formed of a material that is incompatible with the reagent contained in the container.

  According to the present invention, by providing a plate-like suppression member that floats and coats the liquid surface of the reagent container, the generation of waves and bubbles in the reagent container accompanying the transportation can be suppressed, and an accurate amount of reagent can be obtained. Can be aspirated.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a reagent container according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The reagent container 1 shown in the figure has a prismatic shape with a substantially rectangular cross section, and a suction probe for aspirating the reagent injected into the reagent container 1 is inserted into the upper part of the reagent container 1. The probe insertion port 2 is provided.

  Next, the internal shape of the reagent container 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the reagent container 1 when the dispensing probe 7 is inserted into the reagent container 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of the reagent container 1 when the dispensing probe 7 is inserted into the reagent container 1. A predetermined reagent 8 is accommodated in the reagent container 1, and a plate-like suppressing member 5 floats on the liquid surface of the reagent 8 to cover the liquid surface of the reagent 8. The suppression member 5 has a suction hole 6 for sucking the reagent 8 with the dispensing probe 7 and is inserted from the probe insertion port 2 when the dispensing probe 7 sucks the reagent 8 accommodated in the reagent container 1. Since the dispensed probe 7 can suck the reagent 8 through the suction hole 6 of the suppressing member 5, the suppressing member 5 does not hinder the suction operation of the dispensing probe 7.

  4 is a cross-sectional view of the reagent container 1 shown in FIG. Moreover, FIG. 5 is a figure which shows the suppressing member 5 used in Embodiment 1 of this invention. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the suppressing member 5 shown in FIG. 5 taken along line AA, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the suppressing member 5 shown in FIG. 5 taken along line BB. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 7, the suppressing member 5 is a thin rectangular plate having a thickness h, and is suspended on the liquid surface of the reagent 8 accommodated in the reagent container 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the restraining member 5 has substantially the same area as the horizontal cross section of the reagent container 1 and substantially the same shape as the horizontal cross section. Even if a centrifugal force is applied, the liquid surface is maintained in a substantially floating state without rotating in the reagent container 1, so that the ripple of the reagent 8 and the generation of bubbles can be effectively suppressed. it can.

  The suppression member 5 may be any material that does not penetrate and erode the reagent 8 into the suppression member 5 and is mainly selected from plastic materials. Further, the suppression member 5 needs to float on the liquid surface of the reagent 8 and is selected from materials having a specific gravity lighter than the specific gravity of the reagent 8. In particular, a foamed plastic material is preferable because the specific gravity can be reduced. The specific gravity of the suppressing member 5 may be smaller than the specific gravity of the reagent 8, but when the suppressing member 5 is floated on the liquid surface of the reagent 8, the specific gravity is such that about half of the thickness h of the suppressing member 5 is immersed in the reagent. It is preferable. This is because in this case, the liquid reagent 8 can be effectively prevented from being swelled by the weight of the suppressing member 5.

  Moreover, the suppressing member 5 is not limited to a rigid body, and may be a flexible material. In this case, since the liquid surface is coated corresponding to the liquid surface of the reagent 8, the undulation and the generation of bubbles can be further prevented by buffering the undulation. In addition, it is preferable to form the suppressing member 5 with a flexible material because it can be easily inserted into the reagent container 1.

  Furthermore, the suppression member 5 is preferably a non-affinity material for the reagent 8 to be accommodated. When the suppressing member 5 is a material having no affinity for the reagent 8, when the reagent 8 flows into the upper surface portion of the suppressing member 5, the reagent 8 hardly stays on the suppressing member 5 and can prevent the reagent from being volatilized. The surface of the suppressing member 5 may be coated with a non-affinity material for the reagent 8.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a waved state of the liquid level when the reagent container 1 is transported. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a waved state of the liquid surface in the reagent container 1A that does not have the suppressing member 5, and FIG. 8B is a liquid surface in the reagent container 1 that has the suppressing member 5. FIG. FIG. 8 shows a case where the reagent containers 1A and 1 are transferred from the left side to the right side of the drawing at the time of start ((a1), (b1)) → acceleration ((a2), (b2)) → during constant speed operation ( (A3), (b3)) → during the deceleration ((a4), (b4)) → during the stop ((a5), (b5)), the state of undulation of the liquid surface is shown. At the time of starting, at the constant speed movement, and at the time of stopping, there is no undulation in the liquid surface of the reagent 8 in any of the reagent containers 1A and 1, but at the time of acceleration, the inertial force is opposite to the traveling direction (from left to right). Therefore, the liquid surface is higher on the reagent container inner wall surface 9b side in the rearward direction than the inner wall surface 9a side. Here, when the state (a2) is compared with the state (b2), the liquid surface on the inner wall surface 9a side and the liquid surface on the inner wall surface 9b side in the state (b2) where the suppressing member 5 is floated are perpendicular to the conveying direction. And the ripple can be reduced. Similarly, at the time of deceleration, the liquid level on the inner wall surface 9a side forward in the transport direction is higher than the liquid surface on the inner wall surface 9b side, but when the state (a4) and the state (b4) are compared, the suppressing member 5 It can be seen that the height difference between the liquid level on the inner wall surface 9a side and the liquid surface on the inner wall surface 9b side is smaller in the state (b4) in which the surface is floated, and the ripple can be reduced.

  Next, aspiration of the reagent 8 using the reagent container 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the reagent container 1 is transported to the reagent dispensing position by a conveyor or the like and transferred to the dispensing position. Thereafter, the dispensing probe 7 is lowered through the probe insertion port 2 of the reagent container 1 by a probe driving means (not shown) (step S1). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the dispensing probe 7 has detected the liquid level (step S2). When the dispensing probe 7 descends into the reagent container 1 and enters the suction hole 6 of the suppressing member 5, the dispensing probe 7 comes into contact with the reagent 8 liquid surface, and the liquid level detection mechanism provided in the dispensing probe 7 takes this. The liquid level is detected by the change in capacitance due to the liquid level contact. Here, when the dispensing probe 7 does not detect the liquid level (step S2, No), the process proceeds to step S1, and the dispensing probe 7 is lowered by the probe driving means. On the other hand, when the dispensing probe 7 detects the liquid level (step S2, Yes), the dispensing probe 7 is further lowered to suck a predetermined amount of the reagent 8 (step S3), which is caused by a negative pressure such as a syringe pump. The reagent 8 is aspirated from the dispensing probe 7 (step S4). After the reagent is aspirated, the dispensing probe 7 is pulled up from the reagent container 1 by the probe driving means (step S5), and the reagent aspiration is completed. Thereafter, the reagent 8 sucked by the dispensing probe 7 is discharged into the reaction container and analyzed by the sample and the photometric means of the post-reaction analyzer.

  In the reagent aspirating step using the dispensing probe 7 using the reagent container 1 described above, since the suppressing member 5 is immersed and suspended on the liquid surface of the reagent 8 in the reagent container 1, the liquid level detection of the dispensing probe 7 is performed. The mechanism determines that the reagent liquid level is higher than the actual amount because the suppression member 5 sinks into the reagent 8. As a result, if the remaining amount of the reagent becomes small, a predetermined amount of the reagent may not be sucked. Therefore, the lowering of the dispensing probe 7 in step S3 is set in consideration of the amount of immersion of the suppressing member 5 in the reagent, or It is preferable to issue a reagent replenishment warning early.

  As described above, the reagent container according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a suction hole for dispensing a reagent, and has a plate shape that floats and covers the reagent liquid surface accommodated in the reagent container. With a simple configuration including a member, it is possible to suppress the generation of waves and bubbles in the reagent container accompanying the conveyance, and to suck an accurate amount of reagent without damaging or erroneously detecting the probe. Moreover, since the contact between the reagent and the air in the reagent container can be reduced by providing the plate-like suppressing member of Embodiment 1, it is possible to suppress the evaporation of the reagent and to prevent the deterioration of the reagent.

  In addition, as modification 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention, what rounded the vertical side surface of the plate-shaped suppression member is mentioned. 10 is a plan view of the restraining member 5a of Modification 1. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the restraining member 5a shown in FIG. 10, taken along the line AA. FIG. 12 is a restraining member shown in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of 5a. As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the vertical side surface of the suppressing member 5 a that is in contact with the inner wall surface of the reagent container 1 is processed into a round shape. By processing in such a round shape, the inner wall surface is not caught during pitching, so that the floating of the suppressing member 5a is maintained on the liquid surface of the reagent 8 and it is possible to effectively prevent ripples.

  Furthermore, as a second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention, a plate-like restraining member having a rounded corner in the horizontal direction can be cited. 13 is a plan view of the restraining member 5b of Modification 2. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the restraining member 5b shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 15 is a restraining member shown in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of 5b. As shown in FIG. 13, the suppressing member 5 b has a rounded corner in the horizontal direction. Also in this case, the corner member is not caught with the inner wall surface of the reagent container, so that the suppression member 5b is stably maintained on the reagent 8 liquid surface. In addition, it is good also as a structure which combined the modification 1 and the modification 2 as the modification 3 of Embodiment 1 of this invention.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, the reagent container which is Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the suppression member 50 used in the reagent container according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the suppression member 50 illustrated in FIG. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the suppressing member 50 shown in FIG. The suppression member 50 shown in FIGS. 16 to 18 is a thin rectangular plate-like body, and has the suction hole 6 that enables dispensing of the dispensing probe, and the suppression member 5 used in the first embodiment. Similarly, the upper surface portion 15 is curved so as to form an inclined surface that descends toward the suction hole 6 from each side that forms the upper surface portion 15 that contacts the air in the reagent container 1 in use. . Thus, by providing the upper surface 15 with the inclined surface with the suction hole 6 as the lowest point, the liquid surface is waved by the transport of the reagent container 1, and the reagent 8 is outside the suppressing member 50 or from the suction hole 6 to the upper surface portion 15. Even if the reagent 8 has flowed into the reagent reservoir, the reagent 8 that has flowed in can be quickly dropped into the reagent reservoir from the suction hole 6. The suppression member 50 provided with the inclined surface on the upper surface portion 15 promotes the evaporation of the reagent 8 when the reagent 8 is left on the suppression member. In order to prevent this, the amount of reagent used can be reduced. Can be planned.

  Further, as a first modification of the second embodiment of the present invention, when the reagent container 1 is transported, the short side forming the upper surface portion 15 parallel to the traveling direction may be curved. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a suppression member 51 that is Modification 1 of Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the suppression member 51 illustrated in FIG. FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view of the suppressing member 51 shown in FIG. The suppression member 51 shown in FIGS. 19 to 21 is the same as the suppression member 50 in that it is curved so as to form an inclined surface that descends from each side forming the upper surface portion 15 toward the suction hole 6. The short side which forms the upper surface part 15 is different from the suppressing member 50 in that it is also curved. In the first modification of the second embodiment of the present invention, since the short side is also curved, the movement of the reagent 8 on the upper surface portion 15 is further facilitated.

  Furthermore, FIG. 22 is a figure which shows the structure of the suppression member 52 used for the reagent container which is the modification 2 of Embodiment 2 of this invention. 23 is a cross-sectional view of the suppressing member 52 shown in FIG. 22 taken along line AA, and FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of the suppressing member 52 shown in FIG. 22 taken along line BB. As shown in FIGS. 22 to 24, the suppression member 52 is the same as the suppression member 50 in that it forms an inclined surface that descends from the side forming the upper surface portion 15 to the suction hole 6. The surface is different in that it is not a curved surface but is composed of a plurality of planes. The suppressing member 52 in which the inclination from the upper surface portion 15 to the suction hole 6 is formed as a flat surface is prompt even if the reagent 8 flows into the upper surface portion 15 from the outside of the suppressing member 52 or from the suction hole 6. It is possible to drop the reagent 8 from the suction hole 6 into the reagent reservoir.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 25, the suppression member such as the suppression member 52 in which the suction hole 6 is formed so as to be shifted from the center of the suppression member and has an inclined surface on the upper surface portion 15 shifts the center of gravity from the center. The bottom surface portion 16 of the suppressing member 52 does not become parallel to the horizontal surface of the reagent 8 when tilting upward and rightward and floating on the reagent 8. Thus, even when one side of the suppressing member 52 is sinking, the upper surface portion 15 is inclined so that the reagent 8 that has flowed into the upper surface portion 15 flows toward the suction hole 6. That is, it is preferable to set the inclined surface so as to always incline downward toward the suction hole 6 regardless of the floating state of the suppressing member.

(Embodiment 3)
The reagent containers shown in the first and second embodiments described above are prismatic reagent containers whose rectangular cross section in the horizontal direction is rectangular, but in this third embodiment, a cylindrical reagent container 10 (FIGS. 26 to 26). 28), or the plate-shaped suppressing members 53 and 54 described above are provided in the reagent container 11 (see FIGS. 29 to 31) having a fan-shaped prismatic horizontal section. In this case, the shape of the suppressing member is a plate-like member having a shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of each reagent container 10, 11.

(Embodiment 4)
In Embodiments 1 to 3 described above, one plate-shaped member is the basic configuration. However, in Embodiment 4, a hook-shaped suppression member as shown in FIG. 32 is used. That is, a plurality of plate-like members are connected to form one suppressing member 55. In the suppression member shown in the first to third embodiments, the reagent is exposed to the air only between the suction hole and the gap between the vertical side surface of the suppression member 55 and the inner wall surface of the reagent container. In addition, in the suppressing member 55 of the fourth embodiment, the liquid surface is exposed also in other portions, that is, between a plurality of plate-like members constituting the suppressing member 55. Even if such a liquid level is exposed, the reagent can be prevented from swelling and bubbles by floating on the surface of the reagent without hindering the reagent suction by the dispensing probe. For this reason, it is not limited to the saddle-like suppression member shown in FIG. 32, and for example, a plate-like suppression member having fine holes or a fine sphere may be connected to form a plate.

  Thus, the present invention can include various embodiments and the like not described herein, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the technical idea specified by the claims. It is possible to apply.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is BB sectional drawing of the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of the suppression member used with the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows the ripple prevention effect of the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart at the time of performing reagent dispensing from the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a top view of the suppression member which is the modification 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is the BB sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of the suppression member which is the modification 2 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the BB sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of the suppression member used for the reagent container of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is a top view of the suppression member which is the modification 1 of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. FIG. 20 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 19. It is a top view of the suppression member which is the modification 2 of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the BB sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the suppression member on a reagent. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the round reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the suppression member used with the reagent container which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the fan-shaped reagent container which is a modification of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the suppression member used with the reagent container which is the modification of Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a top view of the suppression member which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1A, 10, 11 Reagent container 2 Probe insertion port 5, 5a, 5b, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 Suppression member 6 Suction hole 7 Dispensing probe 8 Reagent 9a, 9b Reagent container inner wall 15 Upper surface part 16 Bottom part

Claims (7)

In a reagent container for an automatic analyzer that is applied to an automatic analyzer that analyzes a sample and contains a reagent that reacts with the sample,
A reagent container comprising a plate-like suppression member that has a suction hole for dispensing a reagent and floats on a reagent liquid surface accommodated in the reagent container and covers the reagent liquid surface.   The reagent container according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal cross-sectional shape of the suppressing member is substantially the same as a reagent liquid surface shape in the reagent container.   3. The reagent container according to claim 1, wherein a vertical side surface of the suppressing member that contacts the inner wall of the reagent container is rounded in a vertical direction.   The corner part of the horizontal cross section of the said suppression member has a roundness within a horizontal surface, The reagent container as described in any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The external air contact surface of the suppressing member is formed with an inclined surface that descends from the reagent container inner wall contact surface side toward the suction hole side. Reagent containers.   The reagent container according to claim 1, wherein the suppressing member is a flexible material.   The reagent container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein at least a surface of the suppressing member is formed of a material that is incompatible with a reagent contained in the reagent container.

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