JP2012005990A - Insertion mechanism for chemical reaction cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve an insertion mechanism for a chemical reaction cartridge capable of feeding the chemical reaction cartridge to inside of a device without using a tray in a body of the device.SOLUTION: In the insertion mechanism for the chemical reaction cartridge 1, the inserted chemical reaction cartridge 1 is drawn in to inside of a casing 6 based on linear motion of a rack 3 engaged with a gear 4 rotated by a motor 5. The insertion mechanism includes a loading guide 8 fixed to inside of the casing 6 and guiding the chemical reaction cartridge 1 to the direction of the linear motion. The rack 3 is provided on the surface of the chemical reaction cartridge 1.

Description

  The present invention relates to a chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism for feeding a chemical reaction cartridge to be inserted into a chemical reaction cartridge testing apparatus or the like into the apparatus.

  Conventionally, test tubes, beakers, pipettes, etc. have been used in processing such as solution synthesis, dissolution, detection, separation, etc., but the operation is cumbersome, individual differences are large, and labor is required. Chemical reaction cartridges are increasingly used. A chemical reaction cartridge is installed in the cartridge and sends solutions to chambers (wells) connected by flow paths to perform processing such as mixing and chemical reaction. It is easy to operate, has no individual differences, and hassle-free. There is an advantage that it does not take.

  Conventionally, when a chemical reaction cartridge is set in a chemical reaction cartridge testing apparatus or the like, an insertion mechanism for feeding the cartridge into the apparatus has been used to facilitate the operation of the tester.

  3A and 3B show an example of a conventional chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism, in which FIG. 3A is an external perspective view thereof, and FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the chemical reaction cartridge testing apparatus is housed in a casing 26, and includes a tray 22 on which the chemical reaction cartridge 21 is placed, and an opening 27 through which these can be put in and out. ing.

In FIG. 3B, a rack (straight gear) 23 provided on the side surface of the tray 22 meshes with a spur gear (pinion) 24, and the spur gear 24 has a center of rotation coupled to the rotation shaft of the motor 25. .

Next, the operation of the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism of FIG. 3 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the tray 22 is pulled out from the opening of the housing 26 and the cartridge 21 is placed thereon. A recess for positioning the cartridge 21 is provided on the tray 22 in advance. Next, when the tray 22 is lightly pressed or a switch is pressed, the motor 25 inside the test apparatus starts rotating, and the rack 23 is directed toward the inside of the housing 26 by the torque transmitted through the spur gear 24. And go straight ahead. As a result, the cartridge 21 is drawn into the test apparatus main body through the opening 27 together with the tray 22.

According to such a chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism, positioning corresponding to the flow path inside the cartridge 21 is automatically and quickly performed in the test apparatus main body, so that the burden on the tester can be reduced.

  The following patent documents are known as prior art of the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-43405

However, the conventional technique requires a tray mechanism inside the test apparatus, and thus requires a structure support member, which makes it difficult to reduce the size.

In addition, since a tray that is longer and deeper than the cartridge is required, an extra space is required when the tray is stored, and it becomes impossible to arrange the mechanism and electrical parts in that part. Become.

  In addition, the chemical reaction cartridge needs to be accurately positioned in the test apparatus in correspondence with the flow path inside the cartridge. May be adversely affected.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to realize a chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism that is simple in structure, efficient in space, and easy to downsize.

In order to achieve such a problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is:
In the insertion mechanism of the chemical reaction cartridge that pulls the inserted chemical reaction cartridge into the housing based on the linear motion of the rack that meshes with the gear that is rotationally driven by the motor.
A loading guide fixed in the housing for guiding the chemical reaction cartridge in the direction of the linear motion;
The rack is provided on the surface of the chemical reaction cartridge.

The invention according to claim 2
The insertion mechanism for a chemical reaction cartridge according to claim 1,
The rack is formed integrally with the chemical reaction cartridge.

The invention described in claim 3
The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 1 or 2,
A detection switch for detecting that the chemical reaction cartridge has been pulled to a predetermined position and stopping the rotation of the motor is provided.

The invention according to claim 4
In the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The chemical reaction cartridge includes an internal switch for detecting that the rack and the gear are inserted to a predetermined position where the rack and the gear are engaged and starting rotation of the motor.

The invention according to claim 5
In the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The rack is provided on a side surface of the chemical reaction cartridge.

The invention described in claim 6
The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 5,
The gear may be engaged with the rack through an opening provided in a part of the loading guide.

The invention described in claim 7
In the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The rack is provided on an upper surface or a lower surface of the chemical reaction cartridge.

  The present invention has the following effects.

That is, by providing the rack directly on the cartridge, the cartridge can be fed into the apparatus with a simple configuration of a motor and a spur gear. Since a complicated structural support member is not required, downsizing is facilitated.

Further, by providing a guide surface on the cartridge surface when the cartridge is inserted, the loading guide is also simple in structure.

Further, since the cartridge is a molded product, a rack added to the cartridge can be easily and inexpensively formed.

Further, since the depth inside the apparatus can be shortened as compared with the case of the tray structure, space efficiency can be improved and downsizing can be achieved.

  In addition, the chemical reaction cartridge needs to be accurately positioned in the test apparatus corresponding to the flow path inside the cartridge. However, since the tray and the cartridge are integrated and there is no backlash between them, the positioning becomes more accurate.

It is a structure explanatory view showing one example of a chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a configuration explanatory view showing a modification of the insertion mechanism of the chemical reaction cartridge of FIG. 1. It is structure explanatory drawing which shows an example of the insertion mechanism of the conventional chemical reaction cartridge.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an external configuration showing an insertion mechanism for a chemical reaction cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.

In FIG. 1A, the chemical reaction cartridge testing apparatus is housed in a housing 6, and the chemical reaction cartridge 1 can be inserted through an opening 7 provided in the housing 6. A rack 3 is integrally formed on the side surface of the chemical reaction cartridge 1.

In FIG. 1B, a rack (linear gear) 3 provided on the side surface of the cartridge 1 meshes with a spur gear (pinion) 4, and the center of rotation of the spur gear 4 is the motor 5 fixed in the test apparatus main body. Coupled with the rotation axis. That is, the rotational torque of the motor 5 is transmitted to the cartridge 1 through the spur gear 4 and the rack 3 to cause the cartridge 1 to move linearly. A loading guide 8 serving as a guide surface of the cartridge 1 is fixed in contact with the opening 7 in the test apparatus main body, holds the chemical reaction cartridge 1 inserted from the opening 7 and guides it in the direction of linear motion by the rack 3. A small opening 9 is provided in a part of the loading guide 8 so that the rack 3 can mesh with the spur gear 4.

In addition, an internal switch (not shown) for detecting that the cartridge 1 has been inserted to a predetermined position where the rack 3 meshes with the spur gear 4 and a tip of the chemical reaction cartridge as a positioning stopper are provided in the test apparatus main body. An end detection switch (not shown) is provided for detecting that it has been pulled to a predetermined position. As the internal switch or the end detection switch, a known object detection switch such as a photoelectric sensor can be used.

Next, the operation of the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism of FIG. 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the cartridge 1 is inserted into the loading guide 8 of FIG. 1 (B) through an opening 7 provided in the housing 6 of the test apparatus. When guided to the loading guide 8 and the cartridge 1 is inserted to a predetermined position where the rack 3 and the spur gear 4 are engaged, an internal switch (not shown) is activated and the motor 5 starts to rotate. The rotation of the motor 5 is transmitted to the spur gear 4, and the rack 3 moves straight in the direction guided by the loading guide 8 by the rotation of the spur gear 4. As a result, the cartridge 1 is drawn into the test apparatus main body via the opening 7. When the chemical reaction cartridge 1 is pulled to a predetermined position, an end detection switch (not shown) detects the tip of the chemical reaction cartridge 1 and stops the rotation of the motor 5, so that the chemical reaction cartridge 1 stops.

According to the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism configured as described above, the rack is directly provided on the cartridge, and the positioning stopper is provided in the test apparatus main body, so that the cartridge is fed into the apparatus with a simple configuration of the motor and the spur gear. be able to. Since a complicated structural support member is unnecessary, the size can be reduced.

Further, by providing a guide surface on the cartridge surface when the cartridge is inserted, the loading guide can also have a simple configuration.

Further, since the cartridge is a molded product, a rack added to the cartridge can be easily and inexpensively formed.

Further, since the depth inside the apparatus can be shortened as compared with the case of the tray structure, space efficiency can be improved and downsizing can be achieved.

  In addition, the chemical reaction cartridge needs to be accurately positioned in the test apparatus corresponding to the flow path inside the cartridge. However, since the rack and the cartridge are integrated and there is no backlash between them, the positioning becomes more accurate.

  In the above-described embodiment, the rack and the cartridge are integrally formed, but a single rack may be attached to the cartridge.

  Further, since the switch for starting and stopping the rotation of the motor is only required to detect that the chemical reaction cartridge has reached a predetermined position, for example, a part of the outer shape of the chemical reaction cartridge may be detected.

  Further, the rack added to the cartridge is not limited to the side surface, and may be provided on the upper surface or the lower surface.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a principal part of a modification of the embodiment of the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism shown in FIG. 1 and showing a case where a rack is provided on the upper surface of the cartridge. The housing 6 and the opening 7 are the same as in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, a rack 13 is integrally formed on the upper surface of the cartridge 11. The rack 13 meshes with a spur gear 14, and the spur gear 14 is driven by a motor 15. When the cartridge 11 is inserted from the opening 7 (FIG. 1A), the cartridge 1 is guided to the loading guide 18 and inserted to a predetermined position where the rack 3 and the spur gear 4 engage with each other. The motor 15 is rotated by the switch. The rack 13 is linearly moved by the rotation of the spur gear 14 driven by the motor 15, and the cartridge 11 is drawn into the test apparatus.

  According to the chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism of FIG. 2, since the rack is provided on the upper surface of the cartridge, it is not necessary to provide a small opening in a part of the loading guide 18 and the creation of the loading guide 18 is facilitated. The other points are almost the same as in the case of FIG.

  The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism of the present invention is not limited to the chemical reaction cartridge testing apparatus, and it is necessary to feed the chemical reaction cartridge into the apparatus, such as a chemical reaction cartridge reader, analyzer, and analyzer. It can be applied to various devices.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and includes many changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof.

1,11,21 Chemical reaction cartridge 3,13,23 Rack 4,14,24 Gear 5,15,25 Motor 6,26 Housing 8,18 Loading guide 9 Opening

Claims (7)

In the insertion mechanism of the chemical reaction cartridge that pulls the inserted chemical reaction cartridge into the housing based on the linear movement of the rack that meshes with the gear that is rotationally driven by the motor.
A loading guide fixed in the housing for guiding the chemical reaction cartridge in the direction of the linear motion;
An insertion mechanism for a chemical reaction cartridge, wherein the rack is provided on a surface of the chemical reaction cartridge. 2. The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the rack is formed integrally with the chemical reaction cartridge.   3. The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a detection switch that detects that the chemical reaction cartridge has been pulled to a predetermined position and stops the rotation of the motor.   4. The chemical reaction cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising an internal switch for detecting that the rack and the gear are inserted to a predetermined position where the rack and the gear are engaged and starting rotation of the motor. An insertion mechanism for the chemical reaction cartridge according to claim 1.   5. The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the rack is provided on a side surface of the chemical reaction cartridge.   6. The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the gear can be engaged with the rack through an opening provided in a part of the loading guide.   5. The chemical reaction cartridge insertion mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the rack is provided on an upper surface or a lower surface of the chemical reaction cartridge.

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