JP2019017344A - Fragile product holding device equipped with expansion mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide means for stably holding the shape of a fragile product in liquid.SOLUTION: A device includes: a cylindrical container with a bottom for housing a fragile product; a lid member which tightly seals the container; and an expansion member positioned between the container and the lid member, in which the expansion member is capable of making transition between a contracted state and an expanded state where the member expands from the contracted state to come into close contact with the container, and the expansion member extrudes gas and liquid in an in-container space housing the fragile product and liquid with transition from the contracted state to the expanded state to come into close contact with the container, by which a liquid-tight space is formed.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

  The present invention relates to a fragile object holding device including an expansion mechanism.

  In recent years, new regenerative medicine has been developed as a solution for treating severe heart failure. As an example, a technique of applying a sheet-shaped cell culture prepared using a temperature-responsive culture dish to which tissue engineering is applied in severe myocardial infarction or the like to the heart surface has been attempted. The technique using a sheet-shaped cell culture can safely transplant a large amount of cells over a wide area, and includes, for example, myocardial infarction (including chronic heart failure associated with myocardial infarction), dilated cardiomyopathy, ischemic cardiomyopathy. It is particularly useful for the treatment of heart diseases (eg, heart failure, particularly chronic heart failure) associated with systolic dysfunction (eg, left ventricular systolic dysfunction).

  In order to clinically apply such a sheet-shaped cell culture, for example, it is necessary to store the prepared sheet-shaped cell culture together with a preservation solution in a container and transfer it to an intensive care unit where transplantation is performed. However, sheet-like cell cultures have low absolute physical strength, and vibrations that occur when containers are transported can cause wrinkles, tears, breakage, etc., so this transport operation requires advanced techniques. And it is necessary to pay close attention.

  In order to meet such needs, various methods and containers have been developed. For example, in the storage and transport container for a membranous tissue described in Patent Document 1 below, the storage liquid may be waved or flowed by filling the storage portion with the storage liquid to such an extent that a gas layer is not formed. As a result, no vibration is transmitted to the membranous tissue, and the membranous tissue can be prevented from being damaged.

  Patent Document 2 below describes a packaging container for a cultured tissue, which includes a container body, a lid, and an inner tray on which the cultured tissue can be placed. In such a packaging container, the cultured tissue is placed and accommodated in the inner tray in the packaging container, and the inner tray operation unit is prepared in the packaging container in advance so that the inner tray can be removed from the container body. It can be made easier. However, when such a packaging container is used, there is a risk that bubbles remain in the packaging container.

  Further, Patent Document 3 below describes a package for transporting a cultured cell sheet. Such a package, when sealed with a lid, excludes air together with some liquid medium, even if the cultured cell sheet package shakes during transportation, bubbles do not move in the liquid medium, It is possible to prevent displacement and loss of the cultured cell sheet.

JP 2012-130111 A JP 2007-269327 A JP 2009-89715 A

  Under such circumstances, the present inventors faced problems such as difficulty in removing bubbles (gas) from the inside of the covered container in developing the means for maintaining the shape of the fragile substance in the liquid. . Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for solving such problems and stably maintaining the shape of a fragile substance in a liquid.

  The inventors of the present invention, while pursuing earnest research to solve the above problems, focused on the fact that if the container is sealed with a lid, the gas in the container cannot be discharged and the liquid-tight space cannot be formed well. As a result, the inventors have found that the problem can be solved by inserting an expandable member between the lid member and the container, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, the present invention relates to the following.
[1] A device including a bottomed cylindrical container for containing a fragile substance, a lid member for sealing the container, and an expansion member interposed between the container and the lid member, the expansion member contracting Gas in the internal space of the container containing the fragile material and the liquid as the expansion member moves from the contracted form to the expanded form. And the device for forming a liquid-tight space by extruding the liquid and closely contacting the container.
[2] The device according to [1] above, which has a discharge path for discharging the extruded gas and liquid.
[3] The device according to [1] or [2] above, wherein after the liquid-tight space is formed in the container with the expansion member, the container can be sealed with the lid member.
[4] In any one of the above [1] to [3], the container includes a lower portion and an upper portion having an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the lower portion, and in the expanded configuration, the expansion member is in close contact with the lower opening. The device described.

[5] The device according to any one of [1] to [4] above, which has a receiving space for receiving the extruded gas and liquid.
[6] Any of the above-mentioned [1] to [5], wherein the expansion member has a convex portion protruding toward the inner space of the container in the expanded configuration, and the horizontal cross-sectional area of the convex portion is smaller as it goes vertically downward. A device according to one.
[7] The device according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the fragile material is a sheet-shaped cell culture.
[8] The device according to [7] above, wherein the sheet-shaped cell culture is a laminate.

  According to the device of the present invention, since the inside of the container can be surely made into a liquid-tight space, bubbles (gas) do not enter the container, and the bubbles do not move inside the container due to the shaking of the container and damage fragile materials. . In particular, when the fragile material is a laminated body of sheet-like cell cultures, bubbles do not move and the laminated body is not displaced or lost. In addition, even if the container or the lid is displaced in the manufacturing stage, the inside of the container can be surely liquid-tight, which is a great merit in terms of design cost and manufacturing cost.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a device according to a first modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a device according to a second modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a device according to a third modification of the first embodiment.

  One aspect of the present invention is a device comprising a bottomed cylindrical container for accommodating a fragile material, a lid member for sealing the container, and an expansion member interposed between the container and the lid member, The member is capable of transitioning to a contracted form and an expanded form that expands more closely than the contracted form and is in close contact with the container, and the expansion member contains a fragile substance and a liquid along with the transition from the contracted form to the expanded form. It is related with the said device which forms liquid tight space by extruding the gas and liquid of internal space, and closely_contact | adhering with a container.

  In this specification, a fragile material refers to an object that has low physical strength and can be broken, damaged, deformed, or the like due to liquid shaking. Examples of such an object include an object having a thin portion, an object having a band shape, and an object having a sheet shape. The object having such a sheet shape is not particularly limited, but a sheet-like structure, for example, a membrane structure on a flat membrane made of a biological material such as a sheet-like cell culture, plastic, paper, woven fabric, and non-woven fabric. , Films of various materials such as metals, polymers and lipids. Of these, those that are hardly decomposable in liquid and those that are hardly disintegrable in liquid are preferable. The sheet-like structure may be polygonal or circular, and the width, thickness, diameter, etc. may or may not be uniform. In the present invention, only one sheet-like structure may be used in a single layer state, or two or more sheets may be used in a laminated state. In the latter case, the layers of the stack may or may not be connected to each other, and in the case of being connected, all overlapping portions may be connected or partially connected. Good.

  In the present specification, the sheet-shaped cell culture refers to a cell-shaped culture in which cells are connected to each other. The cells may be linked to each other directly (including those via cell elements such as adhesion molecules) and / or via intervening substances. The intervening substance is not particularly limited as long as it is a substance that can connect cells at least physically (mechanically), and examples thereof include an extracellular matrix. The intervening substance is preferably derived from cells, particularly derived from cells constituting the sheet-shaped cell culture. The cells are at least physically (mechanically) connected, but may be further functionally, for example, chemically or electrically connected. The sheet-shaped cell culture is composed of one cell layer (single layer) or composed of two or more cell layers (stacked (multilayer), for example, two layers, three layers, four layers) Layer, 5 layers, 6 layers, etc.). Further, the sheet-shaped cell culture may have a three-dimensional structure having a thickness exceeding the thickness of one cell without the cells showing a clear layer structure. For example, in the vertical cross section of the sheet-shaped cell culture, the cells may be present in a non-uniform (for example, mosaic) arrangement without being uniformly aligned in the horizontal direction.

  The sheet-like cell culture in this specification is comprised from the arbitrary cells which can form said structure. Examples of such cells include, but are not limited to, adherent cells (adherent cells). Adherent cells are, for example, adherent somatic cells (eg, cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, epithelial cells, endothelial cells, hepatocytes, pancreatic cells, kidney cells, adrenal cells, periodontal cells, gingival cells, periosteum cells, skin Cells, synovial cells, chondrocytes, etc.) and stem cells (eg, tissue stem cells such as myoblasts, cardiac stem cells, embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells such as iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, mesenchymal stem cells, etc.) Etc. Somatic cells may be differentiated from stem cells, particularly iPS cells. Non-limiting examples of cells that can form a sheet-like cell culture include, for example, myoblasts (eg, skeletal myoblasts), mesenchymal stem cells (eg, bone marrow, adipose tissue, peripheral blood, skin, hair roots) , Muscle tissue, endometrium, placenta, cord blood, etc.), cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, cardiac stem cells, embryonic stem cells, iPS cells, synovial cells, chondrocytes, epithelial cells (eg, oral mucosal epithelium) Cells, retinal pigment epithelial cells, nasal mucosal epithelial cells, etc.), endothelial cells (eg, vascular endothelial cells), hepatocytes (eg, liver parenchymal cells), pancreatic cells (eg, islet cells), kidney cells, adrenal glands Examples include cells, periodontal ligament cells, gingival cells, periosteal cells, skin cells and the like. In the present specification, those forming a monolayer cell culture, such as myoblasts, are preferred, and skeletal myoblasts are particularly preferred.

  The cells can be derived from any organism capable of being treated with cell culture. Such organisms include, but are not limited to, humans, non-human primates, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, goats, sheep, and the like. Further, only one type of cell may be used for forming the sheet-shaped cell culture, but two or more types of cells may be used. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when there are two or more types of cells forming a cell culture, the highest cell ratio (purity) is 65% or more at the end of cell culture production, for example, in the case of skeletal myoblasts. , Preferably 70% or more, more preferably 75% or more.

The sheet-shaped cell culture in the present invention may be a sheet-shaped cultured tissue obtained by seeding and culturing cells in a scaffold (scaffold during cell culture), but preferably constitutes a cell culture. Consists only of cell-derived substances and does not contain any other substances.
The sheet-like cell culture may be produced by any known technique.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the sheet-like cell culture is a sheet-like skeletal myoblast culture. This is because the sheet-like skeletal myoblast culture is so fragile that it breaks by its own weight when it is grabbed, so it cannot be transferred by itself, but once it is folded, it returns to its original shape. This is because it is extremely difficult to maintain the sheet shape in the liquid.

In this specification, a container will not be specifically limited if a fragile substance, a liquid, etc. can be accommodated in the inside, and a liquid does not leak, Arbitrary things including a commercially available container can be used. Examples of the material of the container include polyethylene, polypropylene, Teflon (registered trademark), polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, nylon 6,6, polyvinyl alcohol, cellulose, silicon, polystyrene, glass, polyacrylamide, polydimethylacrylamide, metal ( Examples thereof include, but are not limited to, iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, and brass. Moreover, it is preferable that a container has at least 1 flat bottom face for maintaining the shape of a fragile substance, for example, a petri dish, a cell culture dish, a cell culture bottle etc. are mentioned, However It is not limited to this. The area of the flat bottom surface is not particularly limited, but is typically 1.13 to 78.5 cm ² , preferably 12.6 to 78.5 cm ² , more preferably 9.1 to 60.8 cm ² . .

In the present specification, the liquid in the container is composed of at least one component, and the component is not particularly limited. For example, the liquid is composed of liquid such as water, aqueous solution, non-aqueous solution, suspension, and emulsion. .
The liquid or liquid in the present specification may be a fluid having fluidity as a whole, and may include other non-liquid components such as solid substances such as cell scaffolds and bubbles.

  The components constituting the liquid in the container are not particularly limited as long as they have little influence on the fragile material. When the fragile material is a membrane made of a bio-derived material, the components constituting the liquid in the container are biocompatible from the viewpoint of biological stability and long-term storage, i.e., living tissue or cells. It is preferable that it does not cause an undesirable action such as an inflammatory reaction, an immune reaction, an toxic reaction, or at least a small such action. For example, water, physiological saline, physiological buffer (for example, HBSS, PBS, EBSS, Hepes) , Sodium bicarbonate, etc.), medium (for example, DMEM, MEM, F12, DMEM / F12, DME, RPMI1640, MCDB, L15, SkBM, RITC80-7, IMDM, etc.), sugar solution (sucrose solution, Ficoll-paque (registered) Trademark) PLUS), seawater, serum-containing solution, Renographin (registered trademark) solution, metrizamide solution, Meg Minine solution, glycerin, ethylene glycol, ammonia, benzene, toluene, acetone, ethyl alcohol, benzol, oil, mineral oil, animal fat, vegetable oil, olive oil, colloidal solution, liquid paraffin, turpentine oil, flaxseed oil, castor oil, etc. It is done.

  When the fragile material is a sheet-like cell culture, the components constituting the liquid in the container can stably store the cells, contain the minimum oxygen and nutrients necessary for cell survival, Those that do not break due to osmotic pressure or the like are preferable. For example, physiological saline, physiological buffer (eg, HBSS, PBS, EBSS, Hepes, sodium bicarbonate, etc.), medium (eg, DMEM, MEM, F12, DMEM / F12, Examples thereof include, but are not limited to, DME, RPMI 1640, MCDB, L15, SkBM, RITC80-7, IMDM, and the like, sugar solutions (sucrose solution, Ficoll-paque PLUS (registered trademark), and the like).

  In the present specification, the lid member is not particularly limited as long as it seals the container. Examples of the material of the lid member include polyethylene, polypropylene, Teflon (registered trademark), polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, nylon 6,6, polyvinyl alcohol, cellulose, silicon, polystyrene, glass, polyacrylamide, polydimethylacrylamide, and metal. (For example, iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass) and the like may be mentioned, but are not limited thereto.

  In the present specification, the container has a bottomed cylindrical shape. The shape of the cylindrical horizontal cross section is not particularly limited as long as at least one flat bottom surface for maintaining the shape of the fragile object can be formed, but for example, a triangle, a rectangle, a polygon, a circle, an ellipse, etc. possible. The shape of the lid member is not particularly limited as long as the lid member and the container can be engaged and a sealed space can be formed by the engagement. For example, when the container is a general-purpose petri dish, the shape of the lid member is preferably circular. Moreover, you may enable it to confirm the state of the weak substance accommodated in the container, and the presence or absence of the bubble in a liquid by comprising a cover member and / or a container with a light transmissive material.

  In this specification, the lower part of the container refers to the lower side of the container having a flat bottom surface that can accommodate liquid, gas, fragile substances, etc., and the upper part of the container refers to the upper side of the container, that is, the opening and the lower part of the container. Between. The step part of the container refers to the boundary between the lower part and the upper part, the part where the inner diameter of the container suddenly decreases, or the tapered part where the inner diameter increases from the lower part to the upper part. It has an annular surface with a width. The lower space is the housing space surrounded by the lower part of the container, the upper space is the space surrounded by the upper part of the container, and the opening of the lower space is the edge of the boundary between the lower space and the stepped part. The opening of the upper space is an opening having the edge of the container, that is, the edge of the upper space as the opening.

  In this specification, the expansion member refers to a member that can be shifted to a contracted form and an expanded form that expands more than the contracted form and comes into close contact with the container. The expansion member can be interposed between the lid member and the container, and by moving the expansion member from the contracted form to the expanded form, the gas and liquid in the container internal space containing the fragile material and liquid are pushed out, and the container A liquid-tight space can be formed by closely contacting. That is, while the expansion member transitions from the contracted form to the expanded form, that is, until the expansion member comes into close contact with the container, a space is created between the expansion member and the container. The gas and liquid pushed out from inside the container can be discharged. The expansion member may be a part of the lid member or may be separate from the lid member. The shape of the expansion member is not particularly limited as long as it can be in close contact with the inner surface of the container in the expanded configuration.

  In this specification, the convex portion refers to, for example, a protruding portion, a bulging portion, or the like, that is, a portion that is not flat. The convex portion protruding toward the lower space means that the convex portion protrudes to such an extent that the liquid or gas in the lower space of the container can be pushed out. The size of the convex portion can be freely set according to the amount and the liquid volume.

  In this specification, the container internal space refers to a container storage space having a flat surface that can store liquid, gas, fragile material, and the like. Therefore, the convex portion protruding toward the inner space of the container means that the gas or liquid in the inner space of the container is pushed out by the volume of the convex portion. Furthermore, the edge part of a container means the edge part of the container which comprises the space in a container.

  In this specification, the horizontal cross-sectional area of a convex part means the area of the two-dimensional cross section which appears when a convex part is cut | disconnected by the liquid level in the state which immersed the convex part in the liquid, for example. Therefore, the horizontal cross-sectional area of the convex portion is so small that it goes vertically downward. When the convex portion is immersed in the liquid while descending vertically from the top of the liquid, the contact area between the convex portion and the liquid gradually increases. That means.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the convex portion has a dome shape having a top portion, and is preferably designed so that the top portion of the convex portion intersects the center line of the lid member and the center line of the container. Examples of the curved shape of the convex portion include, but are not limited to, a hyperboloid shape, a paraboloid shape, a hemispherical shape, a conical surface shape, and a pyramidal surface shape.

  In this specification, the fragile substance is held in a liquid in a container in which the liquid is stored. The position of the fragile material in the liquid is not particularly limited, but is arranged at a position where the lid member (or the expansion member) and the fragile material do not come into contact with the lid member attached to the container to form a sealed space ( Or you may touch. Preferably, the fragile substance is disposed on the bottom surface of the container, in the vicinity of the bottom surface, or the like in the liquid of the container.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
1 is a cross-sectional view of a device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a device according to a first modification of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a second modification of the first embodiment. Sectional drawing of the device which concerns on an example, FIG. 4 is sectional drawing of the device which concerns on the 3rd modification of 1st Embodiment. In each drawing in the present application, for ease of explanation, the size of each member is emphasized as appropriate, and the illustrated members do not indicate actual sizes.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a container 2 and a lid member 3 that seals the container 2. The container 2 is a general-purpose petri dish having an edge 25 and constitutes a container internal space that can accommodate the fragile material S and the like. The lid member 3 is in close contact with the edge 25 of the container 2 to seal the inside of the container 2, a cylindrical skirt wall 37 that hangs down from the periphery of the top plate 36, and a cylindrical skirt wall 37 and an engaging portion 33 projecting from the inner surface of 37. The lid member 3 further includes an expansion member 32 and a supply / exhaust valve V for supplying and exhausting the expansion member 32, and the expansion member 32 includes a bottom surface 34 and an outer peripheral surface 35.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, when using the device 1, the liquid L is poured into the container 2 to contain the fragile material S, and the container 2 is covered with the lid member 3. Next, the expansion member 32 is expanded by supplying air from the supply / exhaust valve V to the expansion member 32 in the contracted form. When the expansion member 32 is further expanded after the expansion member 32 reaches the liquid level, the gas and the liquid L in the container are pushed into the space between the outer peripheral surface 35 of the expansion member 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the container 2. Then, it is pushed out through the space between the top plate portion 36 and the edge portion 25. Therefore, the space between the expansion member 32 and the container 2 and the space between the top plate portion 36 and the edge portion 25 serve as a discharge path for the gas and liquid L in the container 2.

  Further, when the expansion member 32 is further expanded to an expanded form, the outer peripheral surface 35 of the expansion member 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the container 2 are in close contact with each other, and are surrounded by the bottom surface 34 of the expansion member 32 and the inner surface of the container 2. A liquid-tight space is formed. After forming the liquid-tight space, the top plate portion 36 of the lid member 3 is pressed against the edge 25 of the container 2, the engaging portion 33 of the lid member 3 is engaged with the container 2, and the container 2 is sealed, Device 1 is transported. As described above, the expansion member 32 functions as an expansion mechanism that can form the sealed space by the lid member 3 after the liquid-tight space is formed by the expansion member 32. When using the fragile material S, the engagement of the lid member 3 is released, the close contact between the top plate portion 36 and the edge portion 25 is released, air is exhausted from the supply / exhaust valve V of the expansion member 32, The expansion member 32 is shifted to the contracted form, the lid member 3 is removed from the container 2, and the fragile material S is taken out.

  This embodiment is not limited to this, and those skilled in the art can design devices having different configurations and shapes. For example, the lid member 3 and / or the container 2 is provided with a discharge port serving as a discharge path for the gas and liquid L in the container 2, and a liquid-tight space and an air-tight space are formed while opening and closing the discharge port. May be. In this case, the expansion member 32 may be expanded with the lid member 3 attached to the container 2. Further, for example, grooves that engage with the engaging portion 27 of the lid member 3 may be provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container 2 at two locations, the upper side and the lower side, so that the engagement can be performed in two stages. As a result, the lid member 3 is positioned with respect to the container 2 by the first-stage engagement, that is, the expansion member 32 is positioned with respect to the container 2, and the container 2 can be sealed by the second-stage engagement. Good. Thus, the expansion member 32 can form the sealed space by the lid member 3 after the liquid-tight space is formed by the expansion member 32.

  As mentioned above, according to the device 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, since the inside of a container can be made into a liquid-tight space reliably, a bubble (gas) does not enter in a container, but a bubble moves in a container by the shaking of a container. And will not damage fragile materials. In particular, when the fragile material is a laminated body of sheet-like cell cultures, bubbles do not move and the laminated body is not displaced or lost. In addition, even if the container or the lid is displaced in the manufacturing stage, the inside of the container can be surely liquid-tight, which is a great merit in terms of design cost and manufacturing cost.

  Next, a first modification of the device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be described in detail, and description of similar matters will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the device 1A according to the first modification includes a container 2A and a lid member 3A that seals the container 2A. In this modification, the container 2A is a bottomed cylindrical container including an upper part 22 and a lower part 23, and the lower part 23 constitutes a container inner space in which the fragile material S and the like can be accommodated. The inner diameter of the upper part 22 is larger than the inner diameter of the lower part 23, and a step part 24 is provided at the boundary between the upper part 22 and the lower part 23. An engaging portion 27 is provided between the lower end portion and the upper end portion of the outer periphery of the upper portion 22 of the container 2A so that it can engage with the engaging portion 33 of the lid member 3A.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, when using the device 1A, the liquid L is poured into the container 2A, and the fragile material S is accommodated in the lower portion 23 of the container 2A. Then, the lid member 3A is placed on the container 2A, and the engaging portion 33 of the lid member 3A is engaged with the engaging portion 27 provided on the outer periphery of the container 2A, so that the positioning of the lid member 3A with respect to the container 2A is performed. That is, the expansion member 32 is positioned with respect to the container 2A. At this time, the engaging portion 33 is not engaged to the lower end portion of the upper portion 22, and the discharge path is secured without bringing the top plate portion 36 of the container 2A and the edge portion 25 of the container 2A into close contact.

  Next, when the expansion member 32 is shifted to the expanded form, and the expansion member 32 reaches the liquid level, and the expansion member 32 is further moved in, the liquid L is in the outer peripheral surface 35 of the expansion member 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the container 2A. The liquid level rises by being pushed into the space between the two. When the liquid level rises, the air A in the container 2A is pushed and discharged outside from the upper opening 25 of the container 2A. At this time, since the close contact between the top plate portion 36 and the upper opening 25 has not occurred, the liquid L and the air A can move. When the expansion member 32 is further expanded, the bottom surface 34 of the expansion member 32 and the stepped portion 24 come into close contact with each other, and a liquid-tight space is formed in the accommodation space (lower 23 space).

  In this modification, in the expanded form, the expansion member 32 has its bottom surface 34 in close contact with the stepped portion 24 of the container 2A, but its outer peripheral surface 35 is not in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the upper portion 22 of the container 2A. That is, in the expanded form, the outer diameter of the expansion member 32 is larger than the inner diameter of the lower portion 23 and smaller than the inner diameter of the upper portion 22, and the height of the expansion member 32 is slightly larger than the height of the upper portion 22 of the container 2A. It is comprised so that it may become. Thus, the extruded liquid is received in the liquid receiving space between the outer peripheral surface 35 and the upper portion 22, so that the surroundings are not contaminated, and the lid member is formed after the liquid-tight space is reliably formed. The container 2A can be sealed with 3A.

  After forming the liquid-tight space, the top plate portion 36 of the lid member 3A is pressed against the upper opening 25 of the container 2A, and the engaging portion 33 of the lid member 3A is engaged with the lower end portion of the upper portion 22 of the container 2A. The container 2A is sealed and the device 1A is transferred. When using the fragile material S, the engagement of the lid member 3A is released, the close contact between the top plate portion 36 and the upper opening 25 is released, and air is exhausted from the supply / exhaust valve V of the expansion member 32. Then, the expansion member 32 is shifted to the contracted form, the lid member 3A is removed from the container 2A, and the fragile material S is taken out.

  As mentioned above, according to the 1st modification of the device 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, since the inside of a container can be made into a liquid-tight space reliably, a bubble (gas) does not enter into a container but a bubble is caused by the shaking of a container. Will not move in the container and damage fragile materials. In particular, when the fragile material is a laminated body of sheet-like cell cultures, bubbles do not move and the laminated body is not displaced or lost. In addition, even if the container or the lid is displaced in the manufacturing stage, the inside of the container can be surely liquid-tight, which is a great merit in terms of design cost and manufacturing cost.

  Next, a second modification of the device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be described in detail, and description of similar matters will be omitted.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3A, a device 1B according to the second modification includes a container 2B and a lid member 3B that seals the container 2B. In this modification, the container 2B is a bottomed cylindrical container including an upper part 22 and a lower part 23, and the lower part 23 constitutes a container inner space in which the fragile material S and the like can be accommodated. The inner diameter of the upper part 22 is larger than the inner diameter of the lower part 23, and a step part 24 is provided at the boundary between the upper part 22 and the lower part 23.

  A female screw portion 38 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical skirt wall 37 so that it can be screwed with a male screw portion 28 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the upper portion 22 of the container 2B. The expansion member 32 includes a convex portion 31 that protrudes toward the inner space of the lower portion 23 in the expanded configuration. The shape of the convex portion 31 is a circular dome shape having a top portion. That is, the horizontal cross-sectional area of the convex portion 31 is circular and decreases toward the vertically lower side, and the curved surface of the convex portion 31 has a parabolic shape.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, when using the device 1B, the liquid L is poured into the container 2B, and the fragile material S is accommodated in the lower part 23 of the container 2B. Then, the lid member 3B is placed on the container 2B, and the lower end portion of the female screw portion 38 of the lid member 3B and the upper end portion of the male screw portion 28 of the container 2B are screwed together to position the lid member 3B with respect to the container 2B. That is, the expansion member 32 is positioned with respect to the container 2B. At this time, the lower end portion of the female screw portion 38 is not screwed to the lower end portion of the male screw portion 28, and the discharge path is ensured without closely contacting the top plate portion 36 of the container 2B and the edge portion 25 of the container 2B. Keep it.

  Next, when the expansion member 32 is shifted to the expanded form and the convex portion 31 expands toward the inner space of the lower portion 23, first, the gas in the inner space of the container is pushed out to the outer space of the container, and then all the gas is pushed out. Liquid L is extruded. The close contact between the expansion member 32 and the lower opening 26 of the container 2B is adjusted by adjusting the amount of liquid in advance or by adjusting the height of the convex portion 31 so that the gas is completely pushed out. Ensure that a tight space is formed. Moreover, in this modification, the outer peripheral surface 35 of the expansion member 32 is configured not to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the upper portion 22 of the container 2B in the expanded configuration. Therefore, the liquid L pushed out from the inner space of the container is received in the receiving space between the upper part 22 of the container 2B and the outer peripheral surface 35 of the expansion member 32, and does not flow out. Further, in this modification, the expansion member 32 has an elliptical balloon shape in the expanded state, and has a receiving space between the expansion member 32 and the top plate portion 36 as shown in the figure. Even when the amount of liquid is large, the extruded liquid L can be received.

  Since the close contact portion (in this case, the convex portion 31) of the expansion member 32 that is in close contact with the lower opening 26 of the container 2B is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane of the container 2B, buoyancy tends to be applied to the gas, and bubbles in the liquid Etc. can be pushed out reliably. In addition, when the expansion member 32 is expanded into the lower space 23 of the container 2A due to such an inclination, the distance between the outer surface of the expansion member 32 and the inner surface of the lower portion 23 is gradually reduced. The liquid L can be gently pushed out, and the flow of the liquid L in the lower portion 23 can be suppressed.

  Moreover, since the shape of the convex part 31 is a dome shape having a top part, when the convex part 31 is immersed in the liquid L, the small top part first comes into contact with the liquid surface, and then the contact area gradually increases. Therefore, the undulation of the liquid L in the container 2B can be minimized. Moreover, since the dome shape of the convex part 31 is circular, the liquid L is uniformly extruded radially along the circular dome. Therefore, the liquid L in the container 2B does not move in the radial direction, and as a result, the flow of the liquid L in the container 2B can be suppressed.

  After forming the liquid-tight space, the lower end portion of the female screw portion 38 is screwed to the lower end portion of the male screw portion 28, the lid member 3B is screwed onto the container 2B, and the device 1B is transferred. . When using the fragile material S, the screwing of the lid member 3B is released, the close contact between the top plate portion 36 and the edge portion 25 is released, the air is exhausted from the supply / exhaust valve V of the expansion member 32, The expansion member 32 is shifted to the contracted form, the lid member 3B is removed from the container 2B, and the fragile material S is taken out.

  As mentioned above, according to the 2nd modification of the device 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, since the inside of a container can be made into a liquid-tight space reliably, a bubble (gas) does not enter in a container, but a bubble is caused by the shaking of a container. Will not move in the container and damage fragile materials. In particular, when the fragile material is a laminated body of sheet-like cell cultures, bubbles do not move and the laminated body is not displaced or lost. In addition, even if the container or the lid is displaced in the manufacturing stage, the inside of the container can be surely liquid-tight, which is a great merit in terms of design cost and manufacturing cost.

  This embodiment is not limited to this, and those skilled in the art will understand the configuration and shape of the device 1 according to the first embodiment, the device 1A according to the first modification, and the device 1B according to the second modification. Devices having different configurations and shapes can be designed by suitably combining the above. For example, as in the third modification shown in FIG. 4, the shape of the expansion member 32 of the device 1 according to the first embodiment is set in the expanded state like the expansion member 32 of the device 1B according to the second modification. You may comprise so that it may have an ellipsoidal balloon shape. Thereby, when the expansion member 32 is expanded and the outer peripheral surface 35 of the expansion member 32 comes into close contact with the inner surface of the container 2, the pushed liquid L is received in the receiving space between the expansion member 32 and the top plate portion 36. By receiving the liquid L, it is possible to prevent the liquid L from flowing out of the container.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a recess may be provided in the step portion of the container, and the liquid pushed out from the container may be held in the recess. Thereby, even when the expansion member is moved to the contracted form, the liquid held in the recess does not return to the container, so that the liquid in the container does not easily flow and is not fragile. Can prevent pollution. Moreover, you may comprise so that a sealing ring may be improved by interposing a packing ring between the cover member and the edge of a container.
In the present invention, each component can be replaced with any component that can exhibit the same function, or any component can be added.

1, 1A, 1B Device 2, 2A, 2B Container 22 Upper part 23 Lower part 24 Step part 25 Edge part, Upper opening part 26 Lower opening part 27 Engagement part 28 Male thread part

3, 3A, 3B Lid member 31 Convex part 32 Expansion member 33 Engagement part 34 Bottom face 35 Outer peripheral face 36 Top plate part 37 Cylindrical skirt wall 38 Female thread part

Claims (8)

  A device comprising a bottomed cylindrical container for containing a fragile material, a lid member for sealing the container, and an expansion member interposed between the container and the lid member, wherein the expansion member has a contracted configuration; It is possible to shift to an expanded form that expands more closely than the contracted form and adheres to the container, and the expansion member allows the gas and liquid in the internal space of the container containing the fragile material and the liquid to move from the contracted form to the expanded form. The said device which forms liquid-tight space by extruding and closely_contact | adhering with a container.   The device of claim 1 having a discharge path for discharging extruded gas and liquid.   The device according to claim 1, wherein the container can be sealed with a lid member after forming the liquid-tight space in the container with the expansion member.   The device according to claim 1, wherein the container includes a lower part and an upper part having an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the lower part, and in the expanded configuration, the expansion member is in close contact with the opening of the lower part.   The device according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving space for receiving the extruded gas and liquid.   The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the expansion member has a convex portion projecting toward the inner space of the container in the expanded configuration, and the horizontal cross-sectional area of the convex portion is smaller toward the vertically lower side. .   The device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the fragile material is a sheet-shaped cell culture.   The device according to claim 7, wherein the sheet-shaped cell culture is a laminate.