JP2011020056A - Gel producing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gel producing method by which gel having an arbitrary pattern can be produced. <P>SOLUTION: This invention relates to the gel producing method in which a sodium alginate solution A containing a gel forming material is ejected by an ink jet system to produce the gel. The gel producing method includes: a selection step S1 for selecting an ejection pattern corresponding to a gel shape; an ejection step S2 for ejecting liquid droplets 27 of the sodium alginate solution A from a nozzle 26 of the ink jet system into a calcium chloride solution C for gelatinizing by being allowed to react with the sodium alginate solution A; and a moving step S3 for moving a position of an acceptance part 31 in order to eject a next liquid droplet 27 to a position different from that of the liquid droplet 27 ejected at the ejection step. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gel preparation method in which a liquid is gelled by a chemical reaction.

  Conventionally, as a method for producing a gel, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which alginate gel spheres are obtained by attaching alginic acid droplets to a support and immersing the support in a hardening solution such as a calcium chloride solution. It is disclosed. According to this method, alginate gel spheres can be prepared by a simple operation.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a microsphere in which a liquid such as sodium alginate, which is a discharge product, is discharged into a calcium chloride solution, which is a liquid to be discharged, as a liquid droplet by an inkjet method. A method for obtaining a capsule is disclosed. According to the method using the ink jet method, it is possible to discharge a liquid as a discharge object based on accurate control such as making liquid droplets of a uniform size. The diameter, film thickness, etc. are almost uniform.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-192471 JP 2001-232178 A

  However, in the prior art, it is preferable to individually create spherical gels, but other than spherical single gels, for example, gels in a desired shape such as a linear or planar shape in which single gels are connected. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to make it easy with the disclosed method.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following application examples or forms.

  [Application Example 1] In the gel creation method according to this application example, in order to create a gel by ejecting at least one kind of ejection liquid containing a gel-forming material by an ink jet method, an ejection pattern corresponding to the shape of the gel is used. A selection step of selecting, a discharge step of discharging droplets of the discharge liquid from the nozzles of the ink jet method, to a discharge target liquid for gelling by reaction of the discharge liquid, and discharging in the discharge step And a moving step for moving the position for discharging the next droplet to a position different from the droplet.

  According to this gel creation method, the liquid droplets ejected from the ink jet type nozzle are ejected to a position different from the position where the liquid droplet ejected before the liquid droplets landed on the liquid to be ejected. That is, by adjusting the timing of droplet ejection in the ejection step and movement of the position where the droplet landed in the movement step, the droplet is ejected to an arbitrary position of the liquid to be ejected according to the selected ejection pattern. Is possible. As a result, if the droplets are ejected to the liquid to be ejected at intervals, individual gel spheres in which each droplet has gelled can be obtained. Furthermore, according to this gel creation method, before the droplet reacts with the liquid to be ejected and completely gelates, the next droplet can be ejected without leaving a gap with the ungelled droplet. As a result, it is possible to obtain a gel in which a plurality of droplets are continuously combined. As described above, various shapes of gels, which were difficult in the conventional method of creating a single gel sphere, can be easily obtained by an accurate discharge method and a position movement method that make a plurality of droplets into one gel. It is possible to obtain.

  Application Example 2 In the gel preparation method according to the application example, the moving step includes the gel in which the liquid droplets sequentially discharged from the nozzles are in contact with each other in the liquid to be discharged and are continuous along a predetermined direction. It is preferable to make a main movement to become.

  According to this method, the droplets ejected from the nozzles of the ink jet method are adjusted by the droplet ejection timing in the ejection step and the movement of the position where the droplets land in the moving step. It is discharged to a position where it comes into contact with the droplet that has landed on the discharged liquid. In this case, the movement of the position in the movement step is a main movement performed in a predetermined direction according to the selected ejection pattern, and the nozzle does not leave a gap between the droplets by this main movement. In addition, it is possible to discharge liquid droplets onto the liquid to be discharged. By such a gel preparation method, a linear gel such as a thread along a predetermined direction can be easily obtained.

  Application Example 3 In the gel preparation method according to the application example, the moving step may be performed in a direction in which the liquid droplets sequentially discharged from the nozzle come into contact with the liquid to be discharged and intersect the predetermined direction. It is preferable to further carry out a secondary movement for preparing the gel in a series.

  According to this method, a linear gel such as a thread continuous in a predetermined direction is created by main movement, and further, a gel that is continuous in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction is also moved by secondary movement. create. In other words, the movement step has a secondary movement in addition to the primary movement, so that the gel created by both the primary movement and the secondary movement extends in a predetermined direction and a direction intersecting the predetermined direction. However, it has a continuous shape like a fiber. By such a gel preparation method, a planar gel can be easily prepared.

  Application Example 4 In the gel preparation method according to the application example described above, the discharge step has a predetermined interval along a direction intersecting the predetermined direction of the position movement, and an interval in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction. The droplets are ejected from a plurality of the nozzles provided in a positional relationship not having, and in the moving step, the droplets sequentially ejected from the nozzles contact each other in the liquid to be ejected, It is preferable to create the gel that is continuous along a predetermined direction and the gel that is continuous in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction.

According to this method, the plurality of nozzles are provided at predetermined intervals along a direction intersecting with a predetermined direction that is a position moving direction, and further, by intersecting, In a direction orthogonal to the direction, the arrangement is made so that the positional relationship is not spaced. In other words, the liquid droplets discharged from each of the plurality of nozzles can be discharged to the liquid to be discharged along the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction by adjusting the discharge timing while moving the position in the predetermined direction. Each of the arranged droplets is in a state of being connected without being spaced apart. As described above, according to the method in which the nozzle is provided along the direction intersecting with the predetermined direction and the droplet discharge timing is adjusted, the position is moved in the predetermined direction without moving the position in the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction. It is possible to create a gel continuous in a direction perpendicular to the direction. Further, according to this nozzle arrangement, before the discharged droplet is completely gelled, the next droplet is quickly discharged in a predetermined direction and a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction. It is possible to reliably create a gel in which a plurality of droplets are connected. That is, according to the nozzle of this arrangement, even a square gel having a square shape can be easily created by simply moving the position in a predetermined direction.
Application Example 5 In the gel preparation method according to the application example described above, it is preferable that in the moving step, either or both of the nozzle and the liquid to be discharged move.

  According to this method, the position movement in the moving step may be a setting in which only the nozzle moves, a setting in which only the liquid to be discharged moves, or a setting in which both the nozzle and the liquid to be discharged move. The best movement method can be performed for the corresponding discharge pattern.

3 is a flowchart showing a gel creation method according to the first embodiment. The top view which shows the gel created by the gel preparation method. Sectional drawing which shows the receiving part which received the gel. The top view which shows the gel created by the gel preparation method concerning this Embodiment 2. FIG. The top view which shows the discharge method of a droplet. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of a discharge apparatus. (A) The top view which shows the modification of the discharge method of a droplet, (b) The side view which shows the modification of a receiving part.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the gel preparation method will be described with reference to the drawings. The gel creation method in the present embodiment is characterized in that a gel having an arbitrary shape can be created using an inkjet method.
(Embodiment 1)

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a gel creation method according to the first embodiment. 2 and 3 show an example of creating a gel based on this flowchart, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the gel created by the gel creating method, and FIG. 3 is a view of receiving the gel. It is sectional drawing which shows a part. In this case, the gel creation method creates a gel using the discharge device 1, and the created gel is a linear gel 10 having a linear shape like a thread as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. is there.

  In creating the linear gel 10, first, in step S1 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 1, the ejection pattern is selected. This is a step in which the ejection device 1 recognizes that the ejection pattern has been selected. And the pattern of the linear gel 10 is selected as a discharge pattern, and the discharge apparatus 1 is controlled so that the linear gel 10 may be created. This step S1 corresponds to a selection step.

  The discharge device 1 used in the gel preparation method according to the first embodiment will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 6, and includes a nozzle 26 that discharges a droplet 27 of the sodium alginate solution A as a discharge liquid, and a nozzle 26. , And a receiving portion 31 that contains a calcium chloride solution C as a liquid to be discharged and that receives the droplet 27. The receiving portion 31 has a box shape having an opening on the side facing the nozzle 26, and has a net 311 for receiving the linear gel 10 in a box shape in which the calcium chloride solution C is accommodated. The carriage 23 has two nozzles 26a and 26b, and these nozzles 26a and 26b are provided along the Y-axis direction. And the position movement for creating the linear gel 10 is only the main movement in which the receiving part 31 moves in the X-axis direction. After selecting the ejection pattern, the process proceeds to step S2.

  In step S2, the discharge liquid is discharged as droplets 27. The droplet 27 of the sodium alginate solution A (discharge liquid) has a spherical shape with a diameter R, and when discharged from the nozzle 26 to the calcium chloride solution C, it reacts with the calcium chloride solution C to gel, Become. The gel particles 101 are received by a net 311 provided soaked in the calcium chloride solution C as gel particles 101a and 101b corresponding to the respective nozzles 26a and 26b. This step S2 corresponds to a discharge step. When the droplet 27 has landed on the calcium chloride solution C, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the receiving part 31 is moved. This position movement is a main movement along the X-axis, and is quickly performed before the droplets 27 are completely gelled. The main moving distance S is smaller than the diameter R of the droplet 27. This step S3 corresponds to a moving step. After the main movement, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, it is determined whether or not a predetermined number has been discharged. This determination is performed by the controller of the discharge device 1 counting the number of droplets 27 discharged. If the predetermined number of liquid droplets 27 have been ejected, the flow is terminated. On the other hand, if the predetermined number of liquid droplets 27 has not been ejected, the process returns to step S2.

  Returning to step S <b> 2, the discharge liquid is discharged as droplets 27 again. The droplet 27 ejected here is ejected into the calcium chloride solution C and becomes the gel particle 102 at the time when it has moved a distance S from the ejection position of the previously ejected droplet 27. Here, since the distance S and the diameter R of the droplet 27 have a relationship of S <R, the gel particles 101 and the gel particles 102 are gelled while being in contact with each other in the calcium chloride solution C. It will be. That is, before the gel particles 101 are completely gelled, the droplets 27 that become the gel particles 102 come into contact with each other, so that a part of both of them overlap and become a single gel. The continuous gel is a linear gel 10 that is linear like a thread along the X-axis direction, which is a predetermined direction in this case. The linear gel 10 includes two gels: a linear gel 10a in which the gel particles 101a and the gel particles 102a are connected, and a linear gel 10b in which the gel particles 101b and the gel particles 102b are connected. After discharging the droplet 27 again, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the receiving unit 31 is moved again. Next, in step S4, it is determined again whether a predetermined number has been discharged. That is, until a predetermined number of droplets 27 are ejected, step S2, step S3, and step S4 are repeated to create a linear gel 10 having a predetermined length. In addition, in step S3, the main movement is performed quickly, and in step 4, the main movement is performed so that the gel particles 101, 102,. It is desirable to make judgments at home.

  Hereinafter, the effect of Embodiment 1 is described collectively.

  (1) The gel preparation method in Embodiment 1 includes a selection step, and the length of the linear gel 10 and the overlap of the gel particles 101, 102,. It can be adjusted to handle various gels. Furthermore, the gel preparation method includes an ejection step for ejecting the droplets 27 to the receiving portion 31 by an ink jet method, and a moving step for mainly moving the receiving portion 31 in a predetermined direction, and an accurate ejection corresponding to the main movement. Depending on the timing, the droplets 27 discharged to the receiving portion 31 come into contact with each other and gel in a state where they are reliably connected. Therefore, the linear gel 10 extending along a predetermined direction can be easily obtained.

  (2) Moreover, in the gel preparation method, since the receiving part 31 is mainly moved, it is not necessary to move the nozzle 26. Therefore, the nozzle 26 is not affected by vibration, inertia, or the like accompanying movement, and can accurately discharge the droplet 27 having a uniform shape in a certain direction, so that the gel particles 101, 102,. A linear gel 10 arranged in an overlapping manner can be created.

(3) Since the linear gel 10 created by the gel creation method is received by the net 311 of the receiving portion 31 and extends, it has the same linear shape in a plan view and a sectional view. And the linear gel 10 produced by increasing the overlap of the gel particles 101, 102,... Does not show conspicuous surface irregularities.
(Embodiment 2)

  Next, Embodiment 2 in the gel preparation method will be described. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a gel created by the gel creating method according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a droplet discharging method. The gel created in the second embodiment is a planar gel 50 in which the gel particles 501, 502, and 503 have a planar shape. The gel preparation method according to the second embodiment is performed based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 1, but the discharge device 5 used is different from the discharge device 1 in the arrangement of the nozzles 26 provided in the head unit 28. ing. Except for the arrangement of the nozzle 26, the configuration is the same as that of the ejection device 1 such that the position movement is only the main movement of the receiving portion 31.

  In the discharge device 5, the nozzle 26 that discharges the droplet 27 (FIG. 3) of the sodium alginate solution A as the discharge liquid crosses the main moving direction (X-axis direction) of the receiving portion 31 along the direction. Has been placed. That is, the nozzle 26 is composed of three nozzles 26p, 26q, and 26r, and is provided at equal intervals along a direction that obliquely intersects the main movement direction. For example, the nozzle 26q and the nozzle 26r are arranged obliquely with respect to the main movement direction so as to be separated by a distance L in the X-axis direction and separated by a distance T in the Y-axis direction. Similarly, the nozzle 26q and the nozzle 26p are also separated by a distance L in the X-axis direction and separated by a distance T in the Y-axis direction. Further, in this case, the relationship between the diameter R (FIG. 3) of the droplet 27, the distance L, and the distance T is L> R> T, and at least R> T may be satisfied.

  In creating the planar gel 30, first, in step S <b> 1 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 1, the ejection pattern is selected, and the pattern of the planar gel 50 is selected as the ejection pattern. Thereby, the discharge device 5 is controlled to create the planar gel 50. After selecting the ejection pattern, the process proceeds to step S2.

  In step S2, the discharge liquid is discharged as droplets 27. 4 and 5, the head portion 28 is drawn away from the planar gel 50 so that the planar gel 50 can be easily understood. However, when the droplet 27 is discharged, the nozzle 26 is connected to the planar gel 50. It is in a state of overlapping in plan view. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the droplet 27 discharged from the nozzle 26r to the calcium chloride solution C gels by reacting with the calcium chloride solution C to become gel particles 501r. At this time, when the droplets 27 are simultaneously discharged from the nozzle 26q and the nozzle 26p, the gel particles 501q 'and the gel particles 501p' separated from the gel particles 501r and 501p to be created. Therefore, after ejecting the droplet 27 from the nozzle 26r, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the receiving part 31 is moved. This position movement is a main movement along the X-axis, and is quickly performed before the droplets 27 ejected from the nozzles 26r are completely gelled. The main movement is performed by a distance T smaller than the diameter R of the droplet 27. After the main movement, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, it is determined whether or not a predetermined number has been discharged. If the predetermined number of liquid droplets 27 have been ejected, the flow is terminated. On the other hand, if the predetermined number of liquid droplets 27 has not been ejected, the process returns to step S2.

  Returning to step S <b> 2, the discharge liquid is discharged as droplets 27 again. The droplet 27 to be ejected here is ejected from the nozzle 26r to the calcium chloride solution C at the time of main movement by the distance T from the ejection position of the droplet 27 that created the gel particle 501r, and becomes the gel particle 502r. The gel particles 502r and the gel particles 501r are gelled while being in contact with each other in the calcium chloride solution C, and a part of both of them is overlapped to form a gel in a continuous state. At this time, the nozzle 26q is at a position separated in the X-axis (+) direction by a distance (LT) with respect to the gel particle 501q that the droplet 27 discharged from the nozzle 26q should first create. After discharging the droplet 27 again, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the receiving unit 31 is moved again. The movement is a distance (LT), and after the movement, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, it is determined again whether a predetermined number has been discharged. In this case, since it is no, it returns to step S2.

  In step S2, the discharge liquid is discharged as droplets 27. The droplets 27 ejected here are ejected from the nozzle 26q to the calcium chloride solution C and become gel particles 501q. The gel particles 501q and the gel particles 501r are gelled while being in contact with each other in the calcium chloride solution C, and become a gel in a state in which a part of both is overlapped and continuous. At this time, the nozzle 26p is at a position separated in the X-axis (+) direction by a distance L with respect to the gel particle 501p that the droplet 27 discharged from the nozzle 26p is to be created first. After ejection of the droplet 27 from the nozzle 26q, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the receiving part 31 is moved. In this case, if the movement is the distance L, the droplet 27 can be ejected from the nozzle 26p to create the gel particle 501p, but before that, the nozzle 26r moves by the distance {T− (LT)} and the gel A discharge position moved by a distance T from the grain 502r is reached. Accordingly, after the movement of the distance {T− (LT)}, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, it is determined again whether a predetermined number has been discharged. In this case, since it is no, it returns to step S2.

  In step S2, the discharge liquid is discharged as droplets 27. The droplets 27 ejected here are ejected from the nozzle 26r to the calcium chloride solution C and become gel particles 503r (FIG. 4). The gel particles 503r and the gel particles 502r are gelled while being in contact with each other in the calcium chloride solution C, and become a gel in a state in which a part of both is overlapped and continuous. At this time, the nozzle 26q is at a position separated in the X-axis (+) direction by (LT) with respect to the gel particle 502q to be created next, and the nozzle 26p is placed on the gel particle 501p to be created next. On the other hand, it is at a position separated in the X-axis (+) direction by {2 (LT)}. After discharging the droplet 27 from the nozzle 26r, the process proceeds to step S3, step S4, and step S2.

  Here, when the receiving part 31 moves by the distance (LT), the nozzle 26q moves from the gel particle 501q by the distance T, and reaches the position where the droplet 27 for creating the gel particle 502q is ejected. . Further, when the receiving unit 31 moves by the distance {2 (LT)}, the nozzle 26p reaches a position where the droplet 27 for generating the gel particle 501p is ejected. In this way, each nozzle 26 sequentially discharges the droplet 27 at each position moved from the position where the first droplet 27 was discharged by a distance T until the number of discharge from each nozzle 26 reaches a predetermined number. , Step S2, Step S3, and Step S4 are repeated. In this way, the square planar gel 50 can be created in a plan view only by the main movement of the receiving portion 31.

  Hereinafter, effects of the second embodiment will be described.

  (1) In the gel preparation method according to the second embodiment, the ejection device 5 used includes the nozzles 26 provided along a direction obliquely intersecting with the direction in which the receiving unit 31 moves mainly. In the direction orthogonal to the moving direction, they are arranged so that they can be seen as a positional relationship that is not spaced. Thus, by adjusting the discharge timing of the droplet 27 in the discharge step and the main movement in the movement step, the gel particles 501, 502,. A planar gel 50 can be produced.

  Finally, the discharge device 1 (discharge device 5) used in the gel preparation method will be briefly described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an overview of the discharge device. As shown in FIG. 6, the discharge device 1 (5) receives the head mechanism portion 2 having the head portion 22 (28) that discharges the droplet 27 (FIG. 3) of the sodium alginate solution A and the droplet 27. The receiving mechanism part 3 for placing the receiving part 31 containing the calcium chloride solution C, the liquid supply part 4 for supplying the sodium alginate solution A to the head part 22 (28), and each of these mechanism parts and the supply part are summarized. And a control unit 13 for controlling automatically.

  Further, the discharge device 1 includes a plurality of support legs 11 installed on the floor and a surface plate 12 installed on the upper side of the support legs 11. On the upper side of the surface plate 12, the receiving mechanism portion 3 is arranged so as to extend in the longitudinal direction (X-axis direction) of the surface plate 12. Above the receiving mechanism 3, the head mechanism 2 supported by two support columns 21 fixed to the surface plate 12 extends in a direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the receiving mechanism 3. Are arranged. A liquid supply unit 4 that supplies the sodium alginate solution A through the head unit 22 (28) of the head mechanism unit 2 is disposed at one end of the surface plate 12. A control unit 13 is accommodated below the surface plate 12.

  The head mechanism section 2 includes a head section 22 (28) that discharges the sodium alginate solution A, a carriage 23 that suspends the head section 22 (28), and a Y-axis guide 24 that guides the movement of the carriage 23 in the Y-axis direction. And a Y-axis linear motor 25 installed in parallel to the Y-axis guide 24 on the side of the Y-axis guide 24. The head portion 22 (28) has a nozzle 26 (FIG. 2) on the side facing the receiving mechanism portion 3, and discharges droplets 27 from the nozzle 26. As a method of discharging the droplet 27 from the nozzle 26, there are a method of discharging using the vibration of the piezo element, a method of discharging the discharged liquid by thermal expansion, etc., but a piezo that does not thermally change the discharged liquid. A method using an element is preferable.

  The receiving mechanism unit 3 is positioned below the head mechanism unit 2 and is arranged in the X-axis direction with the same configuration as the head mechanism unit 2. The receiving unit 31 and the mounting unit on which the receiving unit 31 is mounted. The mounting table 32, an X-axis guide 33 that guides the movement of the mounting table 32, and an X-axis linear motor 34 that is installed on the side of the X-axis guide 33 in parallel with the X-axis guide 33 are provided.

  With these configurations, the head portion 22 (28) moves to the discharge position in the Y-axis direction and stops, and discharges the droplet 27 in synchronization with the movement of the receiving portion 31 below in the X-axis direction. Is possible. Therefore, by arbitrarily controlling the receiving portion 31 moving in the X-axis direction and the head portion 22 (28) moving in the Y-axis direction, an arbitrary position of the calcium chloride solution C accommodated in the receiving portion 31 is obtained. A droplet 27 can be discharged. That is, an arbitrary pattern of gel can be freely created. In the first and second embodiments, the carriage 23 is set not to move.

  The liquid supply unit 4 for supplying the sodium alginate solution A to the head unit 22 (28) includes a tank 41 for storing the sodium alginate solution A, a liquid pump 42, and from the tank 41 to the head unit 22 via the liquid pump 42. And a flow path tube 43 for connecting the two.

  Although not shown, the control unit 13 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that comprehensively controls the ejection device 1, a program for executing ejection patterns of the droplets 27 and various processes that are referred to by the CPU, and the like. Read only memory (ROM), a discharge control unit for controlling the discharge from the nozzle 26 and counting the number of discharges, a movement control unit for controlling the movement of the carriage 23 and the mounting table 32, and a liquid pump A supply control unit for controlling the driving of 42 and an input / output interface for input / output with an external device or the like. According to the gel creation method using the ejection device 1 having the above-described mechanisms, a single gel sphere or a gel having an arbitrary pattern such as a linear shape or a planar shape is freely created based on the ejection pattern. be able to.

  Moreover, the gel preparation method is not limited to the above-described first and second embodiments, and the same effects as those of the respective embodiments can be obtained even in the following modifications.

  (Modification 1) In the ejection device 5, the head unit 28 is configured to include the nozzles 26 arranged in an oblique direction with respect to the X-axis direction, but is not limited to this configuration. FIG. 7A is a plan view showing a modification of the droplet discharge method. As shown in FIG. 7A, the method of discharging the droplet 27 may be a method using a plurality of head portions 29 in which the nozzles 26 are arranged along the Y-axis direction. In this case, the head portion 29 has a head portion 29a having a nozzle 26c and a nozzle 26d, and a head portion 29b having a nozzle 26e and a nozzle 26f, and the interval between the nozzle 26c and the nozzle 26d and the nozzle 26e and the nozzle 26f. Is a distance smaller than the diameter R of the droplet 27 (FIG. 3). That is, the nozzle 26e of the head portion 29b is disposed between the nozzle 26c and the nozzle 26d of the head portion 29a. Further, the nozzle 26d of the head portion 29a is disposed between the nozzle 26e and the nozzle 26f of the head portion 29b. In such an arrangement, if the discharge timing from the nozzle 26 of the head portion 29a and the head portion 29b and the main movement of the receiving portion 36 are adjusted, the gel particles 601c due to the droplets 27 discharged from the nozzle 26c, and the nozzle The gel particles 601d formed by the droplets 27 discharged from the nozzle 26d, the gel particles 601e formed by the droplets 27 discharged from the nozzle 26e, and the gel particles 601f formed by the droplets 27 discharged from the nozzle 26f along the Y-axis direction. As a result, it is possible to form a continuous gel and to create a continuous gel 60. If this continuous gel 60 is arrange | positioned in order to an X-axis direction, the planar gel 50 shown in FIG. 4 can be created. Note that the plurality of head portions 29 may have a configuration in which the nozzles 26 are arranged obliquely with respect to the Y-axis direction.

  (Modification 2) Although the discharge devices 1 and 5 are the structures which move the receiving part 31, they are not limited to this. FIG.7 (b) is a side view which shows the modification of a receiving part. As shown in FIG. 7B, the discharge device 7 circulates the fixed receiving portion 37 and the liquid to be discharged (in this case, the sodium chloride solution C) contained in the receiving portion 37 at a constant flow rate. A circulation pump 374 and a flow path 375, an inlet 373 provided in the receiving portion 37 and into which the sodium chloride solution C flows from the flow path, and an outlet 372 provided in the receiving portion 37 and from which the discharge liquid is discharged. It has. According to this configuration, the discharged droplet 27 reacts with the sodium chloride solution C to gel, and if the flow rate is high with respect to the discharge interval of the droplet 27, it becomes a single gel sphere 70. If the flow rate is slow with respect to the discharge interval, the gel spheres 70 are integrated into a continuous gel 71.

  (Modification 3) In each of the ejection devices 1 and 5, in each embodiment, the receiving portion 31 only moves mainly in the X-axis direction, but is not limited to this, and moves in the Y-axis direction to create a gel. It may be a method to do. Thereby, gels of more various shapes such as curved linear gels can be created. Further, a configuration in which the nozzle 26 moves instead of the receiving portion 31 or a configuration in which the receiving portion 31 and the nozzle 26 move may be employed.

  (Modification 4) The method of obtaining the gel of alginic acid is not limited to using the sodium alginate solution A and the calcium chloride solution C, and even a method of discharging droplets of the potassium alginate solution to the barium chloride solution. good. It is also possible to contain a desired substance in the gel. For example, the sodium alginate solution A contains drugs, enzymes, cells, pigments, catalysts, nanoparticles, fluorescent particles, etc., and is discharged as droplets. To do. Thereby, the single gel particle which enclosed the medicine, the enzyme, the cell, the pigment, the catalyst, the nanoparticle, the fluorescent particle, etc., the linear gel, and the planar gel can be obtained.

  In the gel preparation method according to the present invention, the prepared gel has a uniform size even if it is minute, by ejecting droplets by an ink jet method. A desired shape such as a planar shape can be created. Therefore, this gel preparation method is effective for preparing various gels used in a wide range of fields such as medicine / medical field, biomaterial field such as artificial skin / regenerative cells, and display devices such as liquid crystal. Is available.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Discharge device, 2 ... Head mechanism part, 3 ... Receiving mechanism part, 4 ... Liquid supply part, 10 ... Linear gel, 5 ... Discharge apparatus, 22 ... Head part, 26 ... Nozzle, 27 ... Droplet, 31 ... Receiving part, 50 ... planar gel, 101, 102 ... gel particles, 311 ... net, 501, 502, 503 ... gel particles.

Claims (5)

A gel creation method for creating a gel by ejecting at least one type of ejection liquid containing a gel forming material by an inkjet method,
A selection step of selecting a discharge pattern according to the shape of the gel;
A discharge step of discharging droplets of the discharge liquid from the nozzle of the ink jet method to a discharge target liquid for the discharge liquid to react and gel;
And a moving step of moving the position for discharging the next droplet to a position different from the droplet discharged in the discharging step. In the gel preparation method according to claim 1,
In the moving step, the liquid droplets sequentially discharged from the nozzle make a main movement to contact the liquid to be discharged and to form the gel that is continuous along a predetermined direction. Method. In the gel preparation method according to claim 2,
The moving step further includes a sub-movement for creating the gel in which the liquid droplets sequentially discharged from the nozzle come into contact with the liquid to be discharged and continue in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction. A gel production method characterized by the above. In the gel preparation method according to claim 1,
The discharge step includes a plurality of nozzles provided in a positional relationship having a predetermined interval along a direction intersecting the predetermined direction of moving the position and having no interval in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction. Discharging the droplets,
In the moving step, the liquid droplets sequentially discharged from the nozzles are contacted in the liquid to be discharged, and are connected in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction and the gel continuous along the predetermined direction. A gel preparation method comprising preparing the gel. In the gel preparation method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
In the moving step, either or both of the nozzle and the liquid to be ejected are moved.

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