JP2015012827A - Culture vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce possibility of contaminating a housed object to make handling of the object easier.SOLUTION: A culture vessel 100 comprises: a cylindrical culture part 110 of which upper portion is opened; a fixed lid 110b provided above the culture part; a collection part 120 that is provided in a protruded manner in a horizontal direction from an outer periphery of the culture part and communicated with the culture part; and a movable lid 124 being a lid that covers an upper part of the collection part and is connected to the collection part in a freely openable/closable manner. The movable lid includes a lid part 124a that covers an upper portion of the collection part; a jig 124b for making a lid movable which extends from the lid part to the outside of the collection part; and a hinge part 124c to which the lid part is connected in a freely openable/closable manner with respect to the collection part. The lid part rotates around the hinge part and is opened/closed when the jig 124b for making a lid movable is pressed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a culture vessel for culturing cells and the like.

  Conventionally, in a culture apparatus for cells or the like, a commercially available petri dish or a dedicated petri dish is used as a culture container. When a commercially available petri dish is used, a petri dish lid is opened and closed with a robot arm of a culture apparatus, thereby supplying and collecting a medium (culture solution), cells, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “culture operation”). When a dedicated petri dish is used, a liquid feeding tube is connected to the petri dish, and a culture operation is performed by a pump (for example, Patent Document 1). It is also disclosed that a dedicated petri dish can be multistaged (for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2007-295827 A JP 2010-142143 A

  However, when using a commercially available petri dish, the entire lid of the petri dish must be opened and closed when performing a culture operation, so that a large amount of energy is consumed for opening and closing, and a large and complicated apparatus is required for automation. Further, when the entire lid is opened and closed, the opening becomes larger, and the possibility that the contents are contaminated increases. When a dedicated petri dish is used, a connector or a tube is attached to the petri dish, so that the connection work of the tube occurs every time the petri dish is changed, and handling of the petri dish becomes complicated.

  Then, in view of such a subject, this invention aims at providing the culture container which the possibility of contamination of a contained material is reduced and handling is easy.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the culture vessel of the present invention is provided with a cylindrical culture part having an upper opening, a fixed lid provided above the culture part, and a projection protruding in the horizontal direction from the outer periphery of the culture part. And a movable cover that covers the upper part of the collecting part and is connected to the collecting part so as to be openable and closable, and the movable lid covers the upper part of the collecting part. And a lid moving jig extending from the lid portion to the outside of the sampling part, and a hinge part for connecting the lid part to the sampling part so as to be openable and closable. It is characterized in that it is opened and closed by being rotated around the hinge part by being pressed.

  Further, the culture part may have a structure that can be overlapped with another culture container by shifting the phase of the collection part in the circumferential direction.

  In addition, a step may be formed between the bottom surface of the collection unit and the bottom surface of the culture unit, and may be positioned above the vertical direction.

  In addition, the bottom surface of the collection unit may be provided with an inclination so as to be positioned downward in the vertical direction as it approaches the culture unit.

  According to the present invention, the possibility of contamination of the contents is reduced and handling is easy.

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the culture container concerning this embodiment. It is a vertical sectional view of the robot arm and the culture vessel at the initial position of the robot arm. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the behavior of a robot arm and a movable lid at the time of supplying a culture solution to a culture container with a robot arm.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a culture vessel 100 according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 1 (a) is a perspective view of the culture vessel 100, and FIG. 1 (b) is a perspective view of a multistage culture vessel 100. FIG. 1C is a top view of the multi-stage culture vessel 100. In FIG. 1 of the present embodiment, an X axis (horizontal direction), a Y axis (horizontal direction), and a Z axis (vertical direction) that intersect perpendicularly are defined as illustrated.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the culture vessel 100 includes a culture unit 110 and a collection unit 120. The culture part 110 includes a cylindrical dish part 110a having an open upper part and a circular fixed lid 110b that covers the upper part of the dish part 110a. The fixed lid 110b is provided above the side wall of the dish part 110a. In order to prevent contamination of the contents due to the opening of the fixed lid 110b, in this embodiment, the fixed lid 110b is integrally formed with the dish portion 110a so as not to be opened and closed. A part of the side wall of the dish part 110a is open, and the internal space of the culture part 110 communicates with the internal space of the collection part 120 described later through this opening. The culture unit 110 accommodates a medium (culture solution), cells, and the like through the collection unit 120.

  The collection unit 120 includes a box-shaped box part 122 and a substantially rectangular movable lid 124 that covers the upper part (upper opening) of the opened box part 122. The box part 122 is provided with side walls on three of the four side surfaces, and one side is open (side opening). The side opening of the box part 122 and the opening of the side wall of the culture part 110 coincide with each other, and the box part 122 projects from the side wall of the culture part 110 in the horizontal direction and is provided in the culture part 110.

  The area of the upper opening of the box part 122 may be smaller than the area of the upper part of the culture part 110 (fixed lid 110b). For example, the depth (length in the X-axis direction) of the upper opening of the box portion 122 and the width (length in the Y-axis direction) of the upper opening of the box portion 122 are preferably 10 mm to 20 mm. Thereby, an opening part can be made small compared with a commercially available petri dish. Therefore, in the culture container 100 of this embodiment, compared with a commercially available petri dish, the possibility of contamination of the contents can be reduced.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, there is a step between the bottom surface 122a of the box portion 122 and the bottom surface 110c of the culture unit 110, and the bottom surface 122a of the box portion 122 is more than the bottom surface 110c of the culture unit 110. It is located vertically above. For this reason, when a non-flowable contaminant such as dust is mixed from the upper part of the collecting unit 120, the contaminant can be retained in the collecting unit 120 by friction to prevent mixing into the culture unit 110, and contamination of the contents. The possibility of this can be reduced.

  Furthermore, the bottom surface 122a of the box portion 122 is inclined so as to be positioned downward in the vertical direction as the culture portion 110 is approached. For this reason, when inject | pouring the culture solution which is a fluid, a culture solution can be flowed into the culture part 110 with dead weight of a culture solution.

  The movable lid 124 includes a lid portion 124a, a lid moving jig 124b, and a hinge portion 124c. The lid part 124 a is a lid that covers the upper part of the box part 122. One end of the lid moving jig 124b is connected to the lid part 124a and the hinge part 124c, and the other end of the lid moving jig 124b extends to the outside of the culture unit 110 and vertically upward with respect to the one end. It is a member. Further, the other end side of the lid moving jig 124b is wider than the one end side (the length in the Y-axis direction). Accordingly, the range in which a lid moving rod 220a (see FIG. 2), which will be described later, can come into contact with, becomes easier and the lid moving rod 220a can easily press the lid moving jig 124b. The hinge portion 124 c connects the lid portion 124 a and the lid moving jig 124 b to the box portion 122 at the upper portion of the side wall facing the side opening of the box portion 122. The hinge portion 124c is provided with an elastic body such as a torsion spring that urges the movable lid 124 toward the box portion 122, and reliably closes the lid portion 124a by the force of the spring while no external force is acting. Can do. With the above configuration, the lid portion 124a is rotated about the hinge portion 124c and opened and closed by being pressed by the lid moving jig 124b.

  As described above, the culture vessel 100 is provided with the collection unit 120 protruding in the horizontal direction from the outer periphery of the culture unit 110. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C, the culture vessel 100 is stacked in a multistage manner by stacking the culture vessels 100 in the circumferential direction of the culture unit 110 with the phases shifted from each other. (Culture solution) and cells can be supplied and collected (cultivation operation). In FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C, the lid moving jig 124b is omitted for easy understanding. As shown in FIG. 1 (c), the collection unit 120 is spirally arranged on the side surface portion of the multi-stage culture vessel 100 and is not interfered with the movable range of the movable lid 124 of the other collection unit 120. . In this embodiment, the phase is shifted by 30 degrees and the culture vessels 100 are stacked in 12 stages. A method of multi-culturing the culture vessel 100 using the culture apparatus 200 (see FIG. 2) will be described later.

  The culture operation in the culture vessel 100 is performed by the robot arm 220 of the culture apparatus 200. First, the robot arm 220 and the mounting table 210 of the culture apparatus 200 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the robot arm 220 and the culture vessel 100 at the initial position of the robot arm 220. In FIG. 2 of the present embodiment, the X axis (horizontal direction), the Y axis (horizontal direction), and the Z axis (vertical direction) that intersect perpendicularly are defined as illustrated.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the culture apparatus 200 includes a mounting table 210 and a robot arm 220. The culture vessel 100 is placed on the mounting table 210. By rotating the mounting table 210 on a horizontal plane, the culture vessel 100 mounted on the mounting table 210 is rotated, or by tilting the mounting table 210, the culture vessel 100 mounted on the mounting table 210. Can be tilted. The robot arm 220 is provided with two holes in the X-axis direction, and a lid moving rod 220a and a pipette part 220c are provided in the holes so as to be movable. The lid moving rod 220a is provided in a hole on the X axis positive direction side with respect to the pipette portion 220c.

  The culture vessel 100 on the mounting table 210 is placed so that the lid moving jig 124b of the sampling unit 120 is positioned below the lid moving rod 220a in the vertical direction, and is sampled below the pipette unit 220c in the vertical direction. The movable lid 124 of the unit 120 is placed so as to be positioned.

  The lid moving rod 220a is a rod-like member, and one end thereof is slidably supported by the robot arm 220 and extends downward in the vertical direction. In addition, a spherical contact portion 220b that contacts the lid moving jig 124b is provided on the other end side of the lid moving rod 220a. By sliding the lid movable rod 220a in the hole, the contact portion 220b can be moved in the vertical direction.

  One end of the pipette portion 220c is slidably supported by the robot arm 220, and a pipette tip 220d is attached to the other end. The pipette tip 220d is a commercially available disposable pipette tip and micropipette tip, and of the two openings, the larger opening is the mounting opening and the smaller opening is the suction opening. The pipette unit 220c has a suction / release mechanism capable of sucking and discharging a specified amount of liquid, and the attachment port of the pipette tip 220d is fixed to the pipette unit 220c, and the culture solution is sucked or discharged from the suction port. . By sliding the pipette part 220c in the hole, the pipette tip 220d attached to the pipette part 220c can be moved in the vertical direction.

  As described above, since the commercially available disposable pipette tip and the micropipette tip can be used for the culture container 100 instead of the conventional dedicated tube, the cost can be reduced. Furthermore, in the conventional dedicated tube, there is a case where an expensive culture solution or the like remains inside, but by using the pipette tip 220d, the culture solution or the like does not remain. Therefore, unnecessary loss of the culture medium and the like can be reduced, and further cost can be reduced.

  When pipette tips having different capacities and different heights (lengths from the mounting port to the suction port) are used, a plurality of pipette portions 220 c are provided on the robot arm 220. Specifically, the plurality of pipette parts 220 c are provided in a region in the vertical direction above the movable lid 124 of the culture vessel 100 in the robot arm 220. When using a pipette tip having a height higher than that of the pipette tip 220d attached in FIG. 2, the pipette portion 220c is provided vertically above the pipette portion 220c in FIG. Is made equal to the position of the suction port of the pipette tip 220d in FIG. 2 in the Z-axis direction. When a pipette tip having a small height is used, the position of the suction port of the small pipette tip in the Z-axis direction is made to slide with the position of the suction port of the pipette tip 220d in FIG. Make equal.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the behavior of the robot arm 220 and the movable lid 124 when the culture medium is supplied to the culture vessel 100 by the robot arm 220. FIGS. The vertical sectional view of the robot arm 220 and the culture vessel 100 at the contact position, the operation state, and the operation end position of the lid moving rod 220a is shown. In FIG. 3 of the present embodiment, the X axis (horizontal direction), the Y axis (horizontal direction), and the Z axis (vertical direction) that intersect perpendicularly are defined as illustrated.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, at the contact position of the lid moving rod 220a, the lid moving rod 220a of the robot arm 220 moves downward in the vertical direction, and the contact portion 220b contacts the lid moving jig 124b. At this time, the pipette tip 220d is positioned above the lid portion 124a of the movable lid 124 in the vertical direction in a state where a predetermined amount of culture solution is sucked.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the lid moving rod 220a is in an operating state, the lid moving rod 220a of the robot arm 220 further moves downward in the vertical direction. As a result, the lid moving jig 124b is pressed by the contact portion 220b, and the movable lid 124 rotates about the hinge portion 124c as a rotation axis. One end of the lid moving jig 124b is fixed to the lid portion 124a and the hinge portion 124c. For this reason, the angle formed by the lid moving jig 124b and the lid portion 124a is rotated integrally while the angle is constant. At this time, the lid portion 124a is opened by moving the free end side of the lid portion 124a (the side facing the portion connected to the hinge portion 124c) upward in the vertical direction while drawing an arc around the hinge portion 124c. Similarly to the contact position (FIG. 3A), the pipette tip 220d is positioned above the lid 124a in the vertical direction with the culture solution sucked.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the movement end position of the lid moving rod 220a is reached, the lid moving jig 124b is further pressed by the contact portion 220b than in the operating state (FIG. 3B). The movable lid 124 further rotates about the hinge portion 124c as a rotation axis, and the free end side of the lid portion 124a further moves to increase the vertical viewing area of the opening portion of the sampling portion 120. In addition, at the operation end position of the lid moving rod 220a, the pipette portion 220c moves downward in the vertical direction, and the suction port side of the pipette tip 220d is located in the space inside the sampling portion 120. Then, the culture solution accommodated in the pipette tip 220d is injected into the collection unit 120.

  The bottom surface 122a of the collection unit 120 is positioned vertically above the bottom surface 110c of the culture unit 110, and is inclined toward the bottom surface 110c of the culture unit 110. For this reason, the culture solution can be caused to flow into the culture unit 110 by its own weight without performing an operation such as tilting the mounting table 210.

  After the culture solution accommodated in the pipette tip 220d is injected into the collecting part 120, the pipette part 220c moves upward in the vertical direction. Subsequently, the lid moving rod 220a moves upward in the vertical direction, and the pressure on the lid moving jig 124b by the lid moving rod 220a disappears, so that the lid portion 124a is moved by the force of the spring provided on the hinge portion 124c. Then, the hinge part 124c is rotated around the rotating shaft and closed (returns to the contact position).

  Further, when the culture solution cultured in the culture vessel 100 is collected from the collection unit 120, the culture solution is moved to the collection unit 120 by tilting the mounting table 210, and the movable lid 124 is moved by the robot arm 220 as described above. Open the lid 124a.

  Further, as described above, the culture vessel 100 of the present embodiment can be multistaged. Multi-stage processing may be performed automatically by a robot arm for moving the culture vessel 100 (hereinafter referred to as “moving arm”) or manually. When the culture vessel 100 is automatically multistaged, for example, a moving arm provided in the culture device 200 rotates the culture vessel 100 by 30 degrees about the vertical axis, and the rotated culture vessel 100 is placed on the mounting table. It is placed on 210 and multistaged. Alternatively, the mounting table 210 is rotated by 30 degrees, and the culture vessel 100 is mounted on the mounting table 210 by a moving arm or a human hand, so that the number of stages is increased. Note that there is one mounting table 210, and the culture vessel 100 is first placed on the mounting table 210, and then another culture vessel 100 is placed on the mounting table 210. Overlaid on 100. Here, in order to accurately maintain the phase shift (here, 30 degrees), a fitting key and a fitting groove that are fitted in a state where the culture vessels 100 are shifted from each other by 30 degrees may be provided.

  As described above, in the collection unit 120 of the multi-stage culture vessel 100, the lid portion 124a of the movable lid 124 can be opened and closed without interfering with each other. The container 100 can be operated at a time, and the work time can be shortened as compared with the conventional work time in which the petri dish is operated one by one.

  Further, since there is no need to connect a connector or a tube to the culture vessel 100, handling of the culture vessel 100 is facilitated, and at the same time space saving in the culture device 200 can be achieved.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Is done.

  In the above-described embodiment, the hinge portion 124c is provided with an elastic body such as a torsion spring that urges the lid portion 124a toward the box portion 122, and the lid portion 124a is moved while no external force is applied. Although it is configured to be surely closed, it may be configured such that the lid portion 124a returns to the movable start position by its own weight without providing a spring or the like.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, although the inclination is provided in the bottom face 122a of the box part 122 in the collection part 120, it is good also as a bottom face 122a horizontal to the bottom face 110c of the culture part 110, without providing an inclination.

  Moreover, in this embodiment mentioned above, when providing the several pipette part 220c, it is set as the structure which provides the several pipette part 220c in the robot arm 220, However, The rotating device by which the several pipette part 220c was arrange | positioned on the circumference May be provided on the robot arm 220 and the pipette unit 220c may be positioned vertically above the lid portion 124a of the movable lid 124 by rotating the rotating device.

  The present invention can be used for a culture vessel for culturing cells and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Cultivation container 110 Cultivation part 110a Dish part 110b Fixed lid 110c Bottom face 120 Sampling part 122 Box part 122a Bottom face 124 Movable lid 124a Lid part 124b Lid movable jig 124c Hinge part

Claims (4)

A cylindrical culture part with an open top;
A fixed lid provided above the culture unit;
A sampling part provided in a horizontal direction projecting from the outer periphery of the culture part, and in communication with the culture part;
A movable lid that covers the upper part of the sampling unit and is a lid that is openably and closably connected to the sampling unit;
With
The movable lid is
A lid that covers the upper part of the sampling part;
A lid moving jig extending outward from the sampling part from the lid part;
A hinge part that allows the lid part to be freely opened and closed with respect to the sampling part;
With
The culture container according to claim 1, wherein the lid part is opened and closed by rotating about the hinge part when the lid moving jig is pressed.   The culture container according to claim 1, wherein the culture part has a structure that can be overlapped with another culture container by shifting the phase of the collection part in the circumferential direction.   The culture container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a step is formed between the bottom surface of the collection unit and the bottom surface of the culture unit, and is positioned upward in the vertical direction.   The culture container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bottom surface of the collection part is provided with an inclination so as to be positioned vertically downward as approaching the culture part.

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