JP2020065468A - Filtration device and microbial testing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide filtration devices capable of easily cutting a filtered filter paper, and to provide microbial testing methods.SOLUTION: A filtration device 27 according to the present invention comprises a base 27b, a peripheral wall 27a surrounding the surface side of the base 27b, and a filter paper 29, the filter paper 29 being attached to the surface of the base 27b, an insertion groove 33 of a cutting blade 31 for cutting the filter paper 29 being formed on an edge 27c of the base 27b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a filtration device and a microorganism inspection method.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a reagent is sprayed onto a membrane filter (filter paper) so that the viable cell count can be measured.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-23962

On the other hand, in the microorganism inspection method by the membrane filter filtration method (MF method), filter paper is placed on the surface of the base, and the test solution is filtered using a filter device in which the surface side of the base is surrounded by a peripheral wall. It may be cut into a plurality of pieces and each cut piece may be attached to a plurality of culture media. For example, it may be applied to different types of media depending on the type of microorganism to be tested.
In such a case, there is an inconvenience that it takes time to cut the filter paper.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a filtration device and a microorganism inspection method that can easily cut a filtered filter paper.

  The invention according to claim 1 is provided with a base, a peripheral wall surrounding the front side of the base, and a filter paper, the filter paper is attached to the surface of the base, and the filter paper is cut at the edge of the base. The filtration device is characterized in that an insertion groove for a cutting blade is formed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the insertion groove is formed at a position facing each other at an edge portion of the base.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a thread groove is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the base, and an outer periphery of the base is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall. It is characterized in that a screw which is screwed into a thread groove formed on the surface is formed.

  The invention according to claim 4 is provided with the filtration device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and a plurality of different types of culture media used in microbiological testing, and pouring a test solution into the filtration device It is a microorganism testing method characterized by filtering with a filter paper, cutting the filtered paper, and attaching the cut pieces to a corresponding medium.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, the cutting blade is held by a robot arm, and the robot arm cuts off the cutting blade on a base.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the robot arm attaches the cut filter paper piece to each corresponding medium.

  The invention described in claim 7 is the invention described in any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the test liquid is a bottled beverage.

  According to the invention of claim 1, since the insertion groove of the cutting blade is formed in the edge portion of the base, even if the filter paper is placed on the base and cut by the cutting blade, the edge portion is Can be easily cut without getting in the way.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the present invention can be obtained, and the cutting blade can be deeply inserted so as to traverse the edge of the base, and the cutting can be performed. Can be done easily.

  According to the invention as set forth in claim 3, even if there is an insertion groove, the peripheral wall can be attached and detached without affecting filtration.

  According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, it is possible to provide a method for examining microorganisms which exhibits the same effects as those of the invention as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, it is possible to realize the microorganism inspection method which has the same effects as the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4 and is automated by the robot arm.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the same operational effect as that of the invention described in claim 5 is obtained, and the robot arm that cuts the filter paper can also automatically attach the cut piece of the filter paper to the culture medium.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, it is possible to provide a method for inspecting a bottled beverage for microorganisms, which has the same effect as the invention described in any one of claims 4 to 6.

It is a flowchart which shows the microorganisms inspection method of the bottled beverage concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the work flow and arrangement | positioning of the microorganisms inspection method of the bottled beverage concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the chemical liquid water tank in the chemical liquid sterilization step. It is a schematic front view which shows the hot air blowing state in a hot air blowing process. It is a front view which shows roughly the state before inserting a heat material into the bottle cap in a punching process. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which pours a drink into a funnel in a filtration process. It is a figure which shows a filter paper cutting process, (a) is a perspective view of the state which removed the peripheral wall, (b) is a top view of the base shown in (a). It is a perspective view which shows a sticking process. It is a schematic block diagram of a robot arm.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The microorganism inspection method for bottled beverages according to the present embodiment is an inspection method by the Menven filter (MF) method.
As shown in FIG. 2, the microorganism inspection facility 1 is divided into a bottle sterilization booth 3, an inspection booth 5 and an antechamber 7, and after processing in each booth 3, 5 and the antechamber 7, the petri dish take-out T11. And, in the culture T12 step, after culturing the beverage in the bottle in the medium put in a petri dish, the presence or absence of colonies is inspected. In the present embodiment, general bacteria (including aquatic bacteria) and fungi (mold, yeast) are inspected.
As shown in FIG. 3, a beverage-filled bottle (hereinafter simply referred to as “bottle”) 9 to be inspected is a beverage-filled resin bottle sampled from a manufacturing line, and a bottle 9 has a resin at its mouth 9c. The bottle cap 9a made of is attached. The type of beverage is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include tea-based beverages.

Here, the robot arm 11 used in the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the robot arm 11 has a large number of joints, and the strut 11a, the arm 11b, and the head 11c can freely rotate in the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction. The head 11c is provided with a jig such as a locking tool 35 so that it can be freely taken in and out, and the grip portion 12 can grip an article such as the bottle 9.
The posture and movement of the robot arm 11 and the driving and control of the grip portion 12, the locking tool 35, etc. are controlled by a microcomputer programmed in advance.

Hereinafter, each inspection process will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the preparation stage, a dish 8 (see FIG. 8) containing the medium 6 is prepared in the antechamber 7, and T1, sterile water preparation T2, filter paper preparation T3, funnel (filter) preparation T4 are performed. deep. These preparations T1 to T4 are performed manually.

(1) Chemical solution sterilization step S1
In the chemical solution sterilization step S1, the outer surface of the bottle 9 is sterilized with the chemical solution. The bottles 9 to be inspected are arranged side by side in advance, and the robot arm 11 (see FIG. 9) holds the predetermined bottle 9 and moves the bottle 9 to stand up in the basket 15 (see FIG. 3). Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the basket 15 is dipped in the chemical liquid water tank 13. The chemical water tank 13 is a water tank filled with a germicide solution. In the chemical liquid water tank 13, the entire bottle 9 is submerged in the sterilization water tank.
In the chemical liquid tank 13, the chemical liquid is made to flow as indicated by an arrow E by agitating the inside of the water tank 13 or by a water flow. Further, the basket 15 is intermittently moved up and down in the chemical liquid water tank 13 as shown by an arrow F. The vertical movement of the basket 15 is performed by the robot arm 11 holding the basket 15.
After the chemical liquid sterilization in the chemical liquid sterilization step S1, the robot arm 11 pulls up the basket 15 from the chemical liquid water tank 13, grabs the bottle 9 in the basket 15, and stands the bottle on the table in the hot air blowing step S2.

(2) Hot air blowing step S2
As shown in FIG. 4, in the hot air blowing step S2, aseptic air heated by the heater 17 is blown from the blower 19 from the side surface of the bottle 9 standing on the table. The bottle 9 is covered with a hood 21 so that the blown hot air easily stays near the bottle cap 9a and the bottle neck.

(3) Bottle punching step S3
In the bottle punching step, the bottle 9 is provided with a hole for pouring out the beverage in the bottle 9.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the heating material 23 heated from above is inserted into the top surface of the bottle cap 9a and punched. The heat material 23 is a bar material in the present embodiment. The heat material 23 is provided by a permanent punching device 41. The punching device 41 moves the heating rod 23 up and down by a driving mechanism of a cylinder and a piston, and heats the heating material 23 with a built-in heating wire, for example.
The bottle cap 9a is melted by the heat material 23 and perforated. The robot arm 11 may hold the body of the bottle 9 when the bottle cap 9a is punched.

(4) Filter paper installation step S4
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the robot arm 11 installs the funnel (filtering device) 27 (see FIG. 6) in the manifold 25 (see FIG. 6) and performs S4-1, and then prepares the prepared filter paper 29 (see FIG. 7). ) Is taken out S4-2, and filter paper (see FIG. 7) is installed on the funnel 27 S4-3. Aseptic water is injected into the filter paper 29 on which the funnel 27 is installed from a tube (not shown) (S4-4).

(5) Filtration step S5
As shown in FIG. 6, the robot arm 11 grips the bottle 9 and inclines the bottle cap 9 a so that the bottle cap 9 a faces downward, pour the beverage in the bottle 9 into the funnel 27, and filter the beverage.
As shown in FIG. 7, the funnel (filtering device) 27 includes a base 27b, a peripheral wall 27a surrounding the front side of the base 27b, and a filter paper 29.
A screw groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base 27b, and a screw groove that is screwed into the screw groove of the base 27b is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 27a.

(6) Filter paper cutting step S6
As shown in FIG. 7, after filtration, the peripheral wall 27a of the funnel 27 is removed from the base 27b by another robot arm, and the filter paper 29 is separated by the cutting blade 31 held by the robot arm 11 into two half-moon shaped filter paper pieces 29a. , 29b.
As shown in FIG. 7, the base 27b of the funnel 27 is provided with an insertion groove 33 for the cutting blade 31 at the edge 27c thereof. In the present embodiment, the insertion grooves 33 are formed at two positions facing the edge portion 27c. The insertion groove 33 allows the cutting blade 31 to be pulled beyond the edge portion 27c without interfering with the edge portion 27c when the cutting blade 31 cuts the filter paper 29.

(7) Attaching step S7 to the medium
As shown in FIG. 8, the robot arm 11 grips one filter paper piece 29a placed on the base 27b of the funnel 27 with the locking tool 35 to collect the filter paper (S6-2 in FIG. 2). , And attach it to the medium 6 of the petri dish 8. The locking tool 35 is, for example, tweezers. Before attaching the filter paper to the medium 6 of the dish 8, the lid of the dish 8 is opened (S7-1 in FIG. 2).
Then, the dish 8 is covered with a lid (S7-2 in FIG. 2). The lid of the petri dish 8 is opened and closed by an automatic mechanism provided on the table, but may be opened and closed by the robot arm 11.
Similarly, the other filter paper piece 29b is also grasped by the locking tool 35, attached to the petri dish 8 containing another type of medium, and then the petri dish 8 is covered with a lid (S7-2 in FIG. 2).

(8) Culture step S8
Each petri dish 8 covered with a lid is taken out as it is and cultured in an incubator. After culturing, the presence or absence of colonies is observed.

Next, the function and effect of this embodiment will be described.
According to the present embodiment, the outer surface of the bottle 9 is sterilized with the chemical solution in the chemical solution sterilization step S1, and the outer surface is dried and sterilized with the hot air that has been sterilized in the hot air blowing step S2. Since the beverage in the bottle is taken out and the beverage in the bottle is taken out from the perforated hole and filtered with the filter paper 29, it is possible to prevent contamination of bacteria adhered to the outer surface of the bottle in the microorganism inspection method by the membrane filter filtration method (MF method). .

In the chemical liquid sterilization step S1, as shown in FIG. 3, since the bottle 9 is submerged in the chemical liquid water tank 13, the cap gap portion of the bottle 9 and the bottle cap 9a can be easily sterilized.
Further, since the robot arm 11 can transfer the bottle 9 and perform the respective operations S1 to S7 on the bottle 9, automation can be performed in a sealed clean room.

In the chemical liquid sterilization step S1, the basket 15 containing the bottle 9 is intermittently moved up and down in the chemical liquid water tank 13, so that the permeability of the sterilization liquid into the cap gap portion can be enhanced.
Since the chemical liquid is flowing in the chemical liquid water tank 13, the chemical liquid can be collided with the outer surface of the bottle to make the chemical liquid into a turbulent flow, and further the permeability of the sterilizing liquid to the outer surface of the bottle cap 9a and the gap between the caps can be enhanced.

  In the hot air blowing step S2, as shown in FIG. 4, the hood 21 is covered on the standing bottle 9, so that the hot air blown on the outer surface of the bottle 9 can be guided to the bottle neck 9b and the bottle cap 9a. It is possible to enhance sterilization with hot air and remove water droplets.

In the bottle punching step S3, since the bottle cap 9a is punched, the beverage in the bottle can be poured out from the head of the bottle, which makes it easy to pour out.
Further, the bottle cap 9a can be easily perforated and sterilization of the perforated portion can be achieved only by inserting the heat material 23 into the bottle cap 9a.

In the filter paper cutting step S6, as shown in FIG. 7, since the insertion groove 33 of the cutting blade 31 is formed in the edge 27c of the base 27b of the funnel 27, it remains in the state of being placed on the base 27b. The filter paper 29 can be easily cut and the robot arm 11 can be easily cut. Further, by forming the insertion groove 33 of the cutting blade 31, it is possible to improve the cutting accuracy.
By directly cutting the filter paper 29 on the funnel 27 and with the cutting blade (female) 31, compared to the case where the filter paper 29 is cut by a cutting machine such as scissors, the portion where the device contacts the filter paper 29 is minimized. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the bacteria from remaining and to maintain the sterile condition. Further, by using a scalpel as the cutting blade 31, the size is small and it can be disposable, which is convenient.
The cutting blade 31 is preferably heat-sterilized each time a cutting operation is performed. In this case, the heat sterilization of the cutting blade 31 may be performed by a heat sterilizer built in the robot arm 11 or by a heat sterilizer provided separately from the robot arm.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.
For example, the chemical solution sterilization step S1 is not limited to the robot arm 11 moving the basket 15 up and down, and a mechanism for moving the basket 15 up and down may be provided separately from the robot arm 11.
In the filter paper cutting step S6, at least one insertion groove 33 may be formed in the base 27b of the funnel 27. Further, the cutting of the filter paper is not limited to cutting into two pieces of filter paper, and may be cut into three pieces or four pieces of filter paper, and the number of cut pieces is not limited. In this case, the number of insertion grooves 33 corresponding to the number of cut pieces is formed in the edge portion 27c of the base 27b.
The heat material 23 used in the bottle punching step S3 is not limited to a rod-shaped material, and may be a plate-shaped material, and the shape is not limited.
The type of beverage in the bottle 9 is not limited, and it is not limited to tea and may be milk-containing tea, coffee drink, fruit juice drink, or the like.

9 bottles (bottle with beverage)
9a Bottle cap 11 Robot arm 13 Chemical water tank 15 Basket 21 Hood 23 Heat material 27 Funnel 29 Filter paper 31 Cutting blade 33 Insertion groove 35 Locking tool

Claims (7)

A base, a peripheral wall surrounding the front side of the base, and a filter paper,
A filter device, wherein a filter paper is attached to the surface of a base, and an insertion groove of a cutting blade for cutting the filter paper is formed at an edge of the base.   The filtering device according to claim 1, wherein the insertion groove is formed at a position facing each other at an edge portion of the base.   A screw groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base, and a screw that is screwed into the screw groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall. The filtration device according to claim 1 or 2.   A filter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a plurality of different types of culture media used in microbiological testing, pouring a test solution into the filter to filter with the filter paper, after filtering A method for inspecting microorganisms, which comprises cutting a filter paper and attaching the cut pieces to a corresponding medium.   The microorganism inspection method according to claim 4, wherein the cutting blade is held by a robot arm, and the robot arm cuts off the cutting blade on a base.   The microorganism testing method according to claim 5, wherein the robot arm attaches the cut filter paper piece to each corresponding medium.   The said test liquid is a bottled beverage, The microbe testing method as described in any one of Claims 4-6 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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