JP2010060441A - Automatic analyzer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve an automatic analyzer capable of preventing dew condensation water generated at a reagent suction opening of a reagent cold insulation storage box from adhering to a reagent dispensation probe regardless of a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of vertical grooves 23 are formed inside the reagent suction opening 22 of the reagent cold insulation storage box 8 in the automatic analyzer, and the vertical grooves 23 are in a groove shape to the extent that no large droplets are formed by surface tension. When the temperature of the fresh air goes down to the dew point, dew condensation generated inside the reagent suction opening 22 forms small droplets on the vertical grooves 23 and droplets generated in the vertical grooves 23 repeat gathering, but no large droplets are formed and the entire part becomes wet. When a sampling nozzle passes the reagent suction opening 22, the possibility of adhesion of droplets can be reduced greatly. Dew condensation water gradually flows to a lower portion of the reagent suction opening 22 along the vertical grooves 23, and a water absorber 24 is disposed on a surface around the lower opening of the reagent suction opening 22, the water absorber 24 is allowed to absorb the dew condensation water, and the absorbed dew condensation water is discharged at a dischargeable place. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for qualitative and quantitative analysis of various components contained in a biological sample such as blood and urine.

  Some automatic analyzers have a reagent cold storage for storing reagent bottles containing reagents for analysis. This reagent cold storage is provided with an open part for taking in and out the reagent container, and a cover is provided in this open part in order to prevent cold air from escaping out of the container.

  This cover is generally configured as the upper wall of the reagent cooler, and the cover has small notches and holes (reagent inhalation) necessary for the reagent dispensing probe to pass through to dispense the required amount of reagent from the reagent container. Mouth). However, if high temperature and humidity outside air is in contact with the vicinity of the reagent suction port, dew condensation occurs at the reagent suction port when the reagent suction port falls below the dew point, and grows into large water droplets over time.

  In order for the reagent dispensing probe to dispense the reagent, when the reagent cooler also passes through the reagent suction port, if a water droplet adheres and enters the reagent in the reagent container, the reagent is diluted or deteriorated. . Further, when dispensing the reagent into the reaction container after separating the reagent, a part of the water droplet may be dropped into the reaction container together with the reagent, which may reduce the analysis accuracy.

  In order to solve this problem, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a cover having a double structure is provided in a cool box, a heating element is applied to the gap between the covers, and the surface temperature is always 30 to 40 ° C. The technology which prevents dew condensation by keeping to is disclosed.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 2, an inclination is provided on the inner surface of the upper wall of the reagent cooler, and water droplets condensed on the upper wall of the reagent cooler are gathered near the center of the cooler and dropped into the reagent bottle. A technique for preventing this is disclosed.

JP-A-56-140258 JP-A-8-262030

  However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a heating element is applied to the gap of the cover having a double structure and heated, and condensation is prevented by always maintaining the surface temperature at 30 to 40 ° C. The structure is complicated and expensive. In addition, since the cover surface temperature is high, the temperature distribution in the reagent cooler is different from the case where this cover is not provided, and the stored reagent is easily affected by temperature and lacks stability. There is.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 2, an inclination is provided on the inner surface of the upper wall of the reagent cooler to prevent water droplets condensed on the upper wall of the reagent cooler from dropping into the reagent bottle. Is complex and expensive. Moreover, since it is assumed that high temperature and high humidity outside air enters the cool box, there is a problem that the temperature distribution in the medicine cool box is different from the case where this cover is not provided.

  An object of the present invention is to realize an automatic analyzer equipped with a reagent cooler that can prevent the condensed water generated at the reagent suction port of the reagent cooler from adhering to the reagent dispensing probe while having a simple configuration. It is.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

  The automatic analyzer of the present invention contains a reagent cold storage for storing and keeping a reagent, and a reagent suction inlet inserted into the reagent cold storage through a reagent suction opening formed in the reagent cold storage, A reagent dispensing mechanism having a sampling nozzle that moves to the outside of the reagent cooler and discharges the sucked reagent into the reaction container, and means for suppressing droplet growth on the inner surface of the reagent suction port formed in the reagent cooler Is formed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize an automatic analyzer having a reagent cooler that can prevent condensed water generated at the reagent suction port of the reagent cooler from adhering to the reagent dispensing probe, while having a simple configuration. Can do.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic analyzer to which the present invention is applied. Since the function of each part is well-known, detailed description is omitted.

  In FIG. 1, an analysis unit 100 reacts a sample container filled with a sample, a sample disk for holding the sample container, a reagent disk 1 for holding a reagent corresponding to the content of the analysis test, and the sample and the reagent. A reaction vessel 2 for holding the reaction vessel 2, a reaction table 3 for holding the reaction vessel 2, a sample dispensing mechanism 4 for dispensing the sample into the reaction vessel 2, and a reagent for dispensing the reagent into the reaction vessel 2. A reagent dispensing mechanism 5, a stirring mechanism 6 for stirring and mixing the sample and the reagent, a cleaning mechanism for cleaning the reaction container 2, and a photometer 7 for measuring the absorbance of the reaction liquid in the reaction container 2. It has.

  The reagent disk 1 is accommodated in the reagent cold storage 8 in order to hold the reagent stably for a long time. The control system 200 includes a control unit 9, an information storage unit 10 that stores analysis control information, a display unit 11 for displaying information, and an input unit 12 for inputting information to the information storage unit 10. The analysis unit is controlled via the interface 13.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, the operation of sucking the reagent from the reagent cold storage 8 will be described. In FIG. 2, the inside of the reagent cooler 8 is normally kept at 5 to 15 ° C. in order to keep the reagent stably for a long time. If high-temperature and high-humidity outside air is in contact with the reagent cooler 8, the temperature of the outside air decreases. When the temperature is below the dew point, condensation occurs and water droplets are generated. Furthermore, when the state below the dew point continues for a long time, it grows into large water droplets.

  The inside of the reagent cooler 8 and the outside are thermally shut off by a heat insulating material to prevent temperature influence, but the reagent that is provided in the reagent mechanism 5 for separating the reagent and passes through the sampling nozzle 21 Only the suction port 22 cannot be sealed with a heat insulating material. For this reason, when outside air enters the reagent suction port 22, the outside air becomes below the dew point, and condensation occurs and water droplets are generated.

  The reagent dispensing mechanism 5 moves the sampling nozzle 21 directly above the reagent suction port 22 of the reagent cold storage 8. Next, the sampling nozzle 21 passes through the reagent suction port 22 and descends to the reagent container in the reagent cold storage 8 to collect a necessary amount of reagent solution. Thereafter, the sampling nozzle 21 passes through the reagent suction port 22 and rises right above the reagent suction port 22. Then, the reagent dispensing mechanism 5 moves the sampling nozzle 21 directly above the reaction container 2 from which the sample is dispensed, and discharges the dispensed reagent by a predetermined amount.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, when condensation occurs in the reagent suction port 22, water droplets from the reagent suction port 22 adhere to the sampling nozzle 21, and as shown in FIG. Since the liquid drops downward, the adhering water droplets are mixed into the reagent.

  By repeating this many times, the reagent is diluted. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when water droplets adhere at the reagent suction port 22 when the sampling nozzle 21 rises after the reagent is dispensed, the water droplets adhering to the sampling nozzle 21 when the reagent is dispensed into the reaction container 2. Is dropped together with the reagent, so that the measurement accuracy is lowered.

  Increasing the reagent suction port 22 eliminates the adhesion of water droplets to the sampling nozzle 21, but it cannot be increased because dew condensation in the reagent suction port 22 and the reagent cold storage 8 increases.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view (FIG. 6A) and a cross-sectional view (FIG. 6B) showing a schematic configuration of the reagent suction port 22 of the reagent cooler 8 in the automatic analyzer which is an embodiment of the present invention. ).

In FIG. 6, a plurality of vertical grooves 23 are formed from the outer surface to the inner surface of the reagent cooler 8 inside the reagent suction port 22 of the reagent cooler 8 in the automatic analyzer.
The vertical groove 23 formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port 22 has a groove shape that cannot form a large droplet due to surface tension. For example, a plurality of longitudinal grooves 23 having a width of 1.5 mm and a depth of 1 mm are formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port 22.

  In general, it is known that an apparent surface tension is small on a fine groove and a large droplet cannot be formed. If the outside air falls to the dew point, the condensation generated inside the reagent suction port 22 forms small water droplets on the vertical groove 23, and the water droplets generated in the vertical groove 23 repeat aggregation, but large water droplets are formed. There is no, and the whole becomes wet.

  For this reason, when the sampling nozzle 21 passes through the reagent suction port 22, the possibility that water droplets adhere can be greatly reduced unless the sampling nozzle 21 contacts the inner surface of the reagent suction port 22. That is, the vertical groove 23 functions as a droplet growth suppressing unit.

  Condensed water gradually flows along the vertical groove 23 to the lower part of the reagent suction port 22, but a water absorbing body 24 is disposed on the lower opening peripheral surface of the reagent suction port 22, and the water absorbing body 24 absorbs the water. Discharge the condensed water at a place where it can be discharged. That is, the water absorbing body 24 is arranged so as to extend from the lower opening peripheral surface of the reagent suction port 22 to the discharge port formed in the reagent cool box 8 and drained by gravity.

  As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the plurality of vertical grooves 23 are formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port 22 of the reagent cooler 8, the configuration is simple. It is possible to prevent water droplets condensed on the sampling nozzle 21 from adhering.

  In other words, since large condensed water does not adhere to the reagent suction port of the reagent cooler, it is possible to prevent the condensed water from adhering to the reagent dispensing probe and to prevent the thinning and deterioration of the reagent and the decrease in measurement accuracy. An analysis device can be provided.

  Note that the longitudinal groove 23 can be formed by cutting, laser processing, or the like. Further, instead of the longitudinal groove structure shown in FIG. 6, fine irregularities may be formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port 22 as a droplet growth suppressing means. Even with such unevenness, the apparent surface tension can be reduced, so that the same effect as the longitudinal groove 23 can be obtained.

  In addition, instead of forming vertical grooves or irregularities, as a means to suppress droplet growth, a film with high wettability is attached to the inner surface of the reagent suction port, a coating is applied, and the inner wall surface is further modified. Similar effects can be obtained.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic analyzer to which the present invention is applied. It is explanatory drawing of the operation | movement which attracts | sucks a reagent from the reagent cooler in the automatic analyzer shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the dew condensation which generate | occur | produced in the reagent suction opening. It is explanatory drawing of the sampling nozzle to which the water droplet by the dew condensation which generate | occur | produced at the reagent suction opening adhered (at the time of a fall). It is explanatory drawing of the sampling nozzle to which the water droplet by the dew condensation which generate | occur | produced at the reagent suction opening adhered (at the time of a raise). It is a principal part enlarged view of the automatic analyzer in one Embodiment of this invention, and is a schematic block diagram of the reagent suction port which provided the vertical groove in the inner surface.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reagent disc, 2 ... Reaction container, 3 ... Reaction table, 4 ... Sample dispensing mechanism, 5 ... Reagent dispensing mechanism, 6 ... Stirring mechanism, 7 ... Photometer, 8 ... Reagent cooler, 9 ... Control unit, 10 ... Information storage unit, 11 ... Display unit, 12 ... Input unit, 13 ... Interface, 21 ... Sampling nozzle, 22 ... reagent suction port, 23 ... vertical groove, 24 ... water absorber

Claims (4)

A reagent cooler that stores and cools the reagent, and the reagent cooler is inserted into the reagent cooler through the reagent suction port formed in the reagent cooler, and the reagent is sucked out. In an automatic analyzer equipped with a reagent dispensing mechanism having a sampling nozzle that moves and discharges aspirated reagent to a reaction vessel,
An automatic analyzer characterized in that droplet growth suppression means is formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port formed in the reagent cold storage.   2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the droplet growth suppression means is a plurality of vertical grooves extending from the outside to the inside of the reagent cool box.   2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the droplet growth suppressing means is a plurality of minute irregularities formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port.   2. The automatic analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the droplet growth suppressing means is a highly wettable structure formed on the inner surface of the reagent suction port.

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