JP2023102316A - Carriage for frozen samples, immersion container, and method of conveying frozen samples - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a carriage for frozen samples that can convey a large quantity of frozen samples while cooling them at a gas phase atmosphere temperature.SOLUTION: A carriage 1 for frozen samples includes: a body 2 that has one or more cooling chambers 4 for storing and keeping frozen samples cool; and a moving mechanism 3 for moving the body 2. The cooling chamber 4 has: a space 5 insulated from a surrounding environment; an opening part 4A as an entrance of the space 5; a lid member 6 detachably provided at the opening part 4A; and a cold storage member 7 arranged in the space 5 and supplying cold heat to the space 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a carriage for frozen samples, an immersion container, and a method for transporting frozen samples.

A liquefied nitrogen freezing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a "preliminary freezing apparatus") capable of pre-freezing many biological samples to a required temperature in a short time before cryopreserving biological samples (hereinafter simply referred to as "biological samples") is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

In the conventional pre-freezing apparatus, pre-freezing was performed in units of 10 cc vials or in vial boxes (10 cc vials, 25 vials). After pre-freezing, the frozen biological samples (hereinafter also simply referred to as "frozen samples") are taken out from the pre-freezing device in vial units or vial box units, and transported to a cryopreservation container (for example, Patent Document 2) while being kept cool in a cold storage container made of polystyrene foam containing liquefied nitrogen or dry ice.

In recent years, due to the need for mass production of cell medicinal products, there has been a demand for a pre-freezing apparatus capable of processing 1000 or more 10-cc vials per rack in one batch of pre-freezing. After pre-freezing, the frozen samples taken out from the pre-freezing device are put into a cold storage container in units of racks, and transported to a cryopreservation container while being kept cold.

Here, for example, a carriage for frozen samples shown in FIG. 10 is known as a moving means capable of storing frozen samples in units of racks and transporting them while keeping them cool. The frozen sample carrier 101 shown in FIG. 10( a ) includes a main body 104 having casters 102 and a handle 103 , an insulating tank 105 arranged on the main body 104 and storing liquefied nitrogen, and an insulating lid 106 .

When the frozen sample carrier 101 is used to transport the rack L containing the frozen sample while keeping it cool, as shown in FIG. As a result, the frozen sample can be transported while being kept cold.

JP 2016-183846 A JP-A-2005-143873

By the way, in the pre-freezing device, the biological sample is pre-frozen at about -80°C. However, in the conventional frozen sample carrier 101 shown in FIG. 10, since the frozen sample is immersed in liquefied nitrogen together with the rack L, there is a problem that the temperature of the frozen sample changes greatly. In addition, there is a problem that the frozen sample in the rack L may come into contact with liquefied nitrogen when the rack L is taken in and out of the heat insulating tank 105 . Therefore, in place of the conventional frozen sample carrier 101, there is a demand for means for transporting a large amount of frozen samples while keeping them cool at the gas phase ambient temperature (-80 to -180°C).

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a carriage for frozen samples that can transport a large amount of frozen samples while keeping them cool at the gas phase ambient temperature (-80 to -180°C).

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention employs the following configurations.
[1] A trolley for transporting a frozen sample while keeping it cool in a gas phase,
a main body having one or more cooling chambers for storing and keeping the frozen sample cold;
a moving mechanism for moving the main body,
The cold storage chamber has a space insulated from the surrounding environment, an opening serving as an entrance and exit of the space, a detachable lid member provided in the opening, and a cold storage member arranged in the space to supply cold heat to the space.
[2] The frozen sample carrier according to [1], wherein the cold storage member includes an absorbent that absorbs liquefied nitrogen and a holding member that holds the shape of the absorbent.
[3] The frozen sample carrier according to [2], wherein the cold storage member has a cylindrical space capable of accommodating the frozen sample, and the cold storage chamber is arranged such that the cylindrical space communicates with the opening.
[4] The frozen sample carrier according to [1], wherein the cold storage member is a cold storage device in which a cold insulator is enclosed in a container.
[5] The frozen sample carrier according to any one of [1] to [4], which has one or more spacer members located in the space and inhibiting contact between the inner peripheral surface of the cold storage chamber and the cold storage member.
[6] An immersion container that includes an absorbent that absorbs liquefied nitrogen, a holding member that retains the shape of the absorbent, and a cool storage member that is immersed in liquefied nitrogen so that the absorbent absorbs the liquefied nitrogen,
A container body for storing the liquefied nitrogen,
The immersion container, wherein the inner peripheral surface of the container body and the outer peripheral surface of the cold storage member have the same shape.
[7] The cold storage member has a cylindrical space,
The immersion container according to [6], wherein the container body has a columnar portion that can be inserted into the tubular space.
[8] The immersion container according to [7], wherein the columnar portion is provided with a scale for measuring the storage amount of the liquefied nitrogen.
[9] A method of transporting a frozen sample from a pre-freezing device for cooling a frozen sample to below a storage temperature to a cryopreservation device for cryopreserving the frozen sample using the frozen sample transport carriage according to [1],
A method of transporting a frozen sample, comprising storing the frozen sample taken out from the preliminary freezing device in a cold storage chamber and transporting the frozen sample to the cryopreservation device while keeping the frozen sample cold in a gas phase.

The frozen sample carrier of the present invention can transport a large amount of frozen samples while keeping them cool at the gas phase ambient temperature (-80 to -180°C).

1 is a top view of a frozen sample carrier that is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A' shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cool storage member applicable to the frozen sample carrier of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a top view of a cool storage member applicable to the frozen sample carrier of the present embodiment. It is a sectional view showing composition of an immersion container which is one embodiment to which the present invention is applied. It is a sectional view showing the mode of use of the immersion container which is one embodiment to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a transport target of a method for transporting a frozen sample, which is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a method of transporting a frozen sample, which is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. It is a sectional view showing the modification of the immersion container which is one embodiment to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional frozen sample carrier, in which (a) shows a state with the lid closed, and (b) shows a state in which the rack is immersed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A frozen sample carrier that is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will now be described in detail together with an immersion container and a method for transporting a frozen sample, with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the drawings used in the following description, in order to make the features easier to understand, the characteristic parts may be enlarged for convenience, and the dimensional ratio of each component may not necessarily be the same as the actual one.

(Carriage for frozen samples)
First, the configuration of a frozen sample carrier, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. FIG. 1 is a top view of a carriage for frozen samples, which is one embodiment to which the present invention is applied. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line AA' shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the frozen sample carriage 1 of the present embodiment has a schematic configuration including a main body 2 having one or more cold storage chambers 4 and a moving mechanism 3 for moving the main body 2.
The frozen sample transport vehicle 1 is a vehicle that transports a frozen sample while keeping it cool in a gas phase.

The main body 2 is a quadrangular prism-shaped member (housing). The main body 2 has one or more refrigerating chambers 4 for storing and keeping the racks L in which frozen samples are stored. In this embodiment, as an example of the main body 2, a configuration in which three cold storage chambers 4 are arranged in a line in the transport direction of the frozen sample transport carriage 1 will be described.

The cold storage chamber 4 is provided inside (inside) the main body 2 . The cold storage chamber 4 has a space (insulated space) 5 insulated from the surrounding environment of the frozen sample carrier 1, an opening 4A serving as an entrance to the space 5, a lid member 6 detachably provided at the opening 4A, a cool storage member 7 arranged in the space 5 to supply cold heat to the space 5, and one or more spacer members 8.

The space 5 is a cold storage space provided inside the cold storage chamber 4 . In other words, the space 5 is a bottomed tubular (columnar) heat insulating space provided inside (inside) the main body 2 and extending vertically up and down. In the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment, the cold storage member 7 and the rack L containing the frozen sample are accommodated in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 .

Although the shape of the space 5 is described as a square prism as an example, it is not particularly limited as long as the cool storage member 7 and the rack L can be accommodated therein. Examples of the shape of the space 5 include a polygonal columnar shape such as a hexagonal columnar shape, and a columnar shape.

The heat insulating structure of the space 5 is not particularly limited as long as it can be insulated to the extent that the influence of heat from the surrounding environment of the carriage 1 for frozen samples can be reduced. Examples of the heat insulating structure of the space 5 include a columnar space formed by a member in which a known heat insulating material such as expanded polystyrene is attached to a metal frame, and a space inside a vacuum heat insulating container.

The opening 4A is located on the upper surface of the cold insulation chamber 4 and constitutes an entrance and exit of the cylindrical space 5 with a bottom. That is, in the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment, the cold storage member 7 and the rack L are taken in and out from the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 through the opening 4A.

The lid member 6 is detachably provided in the opening 4A. As shown in FIG. 1, by removing the lid member 6 from the cold insulation chamber 4, the cold storage member 7 and the rack L can be accommodated in the space 5 through the opening 4A. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, by attaching the cover member 6 to the opening 4A in a state in which the cold storage member 7 and the rack L are accommodated in the cold storage chamber 4, the opening 4A of the cold storage chamber 4 can be closed, so that the frozen sample stored in the rack L can be reliably kept cold.
The material of the lid member 6 is not particularly limited as long as it can insulate to the extent that the influence of heat from the surrounding environment can be reduced. Examples of materials for the lid member 6 include known heat insulating materials such as polystyrene foam.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cold storage member 7 is a member that is arranged in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 and supplies cold heat to the space 5 . Here, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the cold storage member 7 applicable to the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a top view of the cold storage member 7 applicable to the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cold storage member 7 has an absorbent 9 that absorbs liquefied nitrogen, a holding member 10 that holds the shape of the absorbent, a handle 11 positioned at the top of the holding member 10, and a spacer member 12 positioned at the bottom of the holding member 10.

The absorbent 9 is the main body of the cold storage member 7 made of a material that absorbs liquefied nitrogen. The material of the absorbent 9 is not particularly limited as long as it can absorb liquefied nitrogen. Examples of the absorbent 9 include glass fiber paper.

The holding member 10 is a member made of a wire mesh that is positioned on the outer periphery of the absorbent 9 and that restricts deformation of the absorbent 9 to retain its shape. In other words, the absorbent material 9 is housed inside the holding member 10 . Since the holding member 10 is made of a wire mesh, when the cool storage member 7 is immersed in the immersion container 21 described later, the absorbent 9 exposed from the wire mesh comes into contact with the liquefied nitrogen, so the absorbent 9 can reliably absorb the liquefied nitrogen.

The material of the holding member 10 (that is, the material of the wire mesh) is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having excellent low temperature resistance. As a material of the holding member 10, a metal (for example, stainless steel) having excellent low temperature resistance can be used.

A handle 11 is positioned above the holding member 10 . According to the handle 11, the cold storage member 7 can be placed in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 and taken out from the cold insulation chamber 4 without directly touching the absorbent 9 and the holding member 10.例文帳に追加The material of the handle 11 is not particularly limited, and the same material as that of the holding member 10 can be used.

A plurality of spacer members 12 are positioned at the bottom of the holding member 10 . The spacer member 12 is positioned between the bottom surface 4B of the cold insulation chamber 4 and the holding member 10 when the cold storage member 7 is installed in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 . As a result, the inflow and outflow of heat from the cold insulation chamber 4 to the absorbent 9 can be suppressed, so that the consumption of liquefied nitrogen can be reduced. The material of the spacer member 12 is not particularly limited, and the same material as that of the holding member 10 can be used.

The shape of the cold storage member 7 (that is, the shape of the holding member 10) is a cylindrical shape with both ends opened. Further, inside the cold storage member 7, a cylindrical space (cylindrical space) 7A capable of accommodating the frozen sample together with the rack L is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cold storage member 7 is arranged in the cold insulation chamber 4 so that the space 7A and the opening 4A communicate with each other. As a result, when storing the frozen sample together with the rack L in the cold insulation chamber 4, the rack L can be stored in the space 7A inside the cold storage member 7 through the opening 4A.

According to the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment, the cold storage member 7 is cylindrical and does not have corners on the outer circumference, so that the cold storage member 7 can be easily aligned when it is arranged in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4. In addition, since the frozen sample is surrounded by the cold storage member 7 by accommodating the rack L in the space 7A inside the cold storage member 7, the temperature of the sample can be kept uniform.

A plurality of spacer members 8 are positioned in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 . The material of the spacer member 8 is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include polyethylene. When inserting the cold storage member 7 into the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4, the spacer member 8 regulates the position of the cold storage member 7 and guides it to a correct storage position, so that the insertion of the cold storage member 7 is facilitated. Moreover, it is preferable that the spacer members 8 are installed at different heights on the inner peripheral surface 4</b>C of the cold insulation chamber 4 . As a result, since the heights of the plurality of spacer members 8 are different, a gap is generated between the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 and the cold storage member 7, and the insertion of the cold storage member 7 into the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 is facilitated.

The spacer member 8 is positioned between the inner peripheral surface 4</b>C of the cold insulation chamber 4 and the cold storage member 7 when the cold storage member 7 is installed in the space 5 inside the cold insulation chamber 4 . As a result, direct contact between the inner peripheral surface 4C of the cold storage chamber 4 and the cold storage member 7 can be inhibited, and the influx of heat from the cold storage chamber 4 to the absorbent 9 can be suppressed, thereby reducing the consumption of liquefied nitrogen.

The moving mechanism 3 includes casters 13 and a handle 14 for moving the body 2 .
Casters 13 are provided on the bottom of the main body 2 . A handle 14 is provided above the side surface of the main body 2 . The configuration of the moving mechanism 3 is not particularly limited as long as the main body 2 can be moved to any place.

(Immersion container)
Next, the structure of the immersion container used for the cold storage member 7 constituting the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an immersion container that is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. Moreover, FIG. 6 is sectional drawing which shows the usage condition of the immersion container which is one Embodiment which applied this invention.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an immersion container 21, which is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, has a general configuration including a container body 22 that stores liquefied nitrogen and a columnar portion 23 that stands vertically upward from the center of a bottom portion 22A of the container body 22.
The immersion container 21 is for immersing the cold storage member 7 described above in liquefied nitrogen and allowing the absorbent 9 to absorb the liquefied nitrogen.

The container main body 22 is a cylindrical container with an open top, and stores liquefied nitrogen in the inner space. Moreover, the inner peripheral surface 22B of the container body 22 has the same shape as the outer peripheral surface of the cold storage member 7 . As a result, when the cool storage member 7 is inserted into the immersion container 21, the gap between the container body 22 and the cool storage member 7 is reduced, so that the amount of liquefied nitrogen used can be reduced.

The columnar portion 23 is positioned in the center of the bottom portion 22A of the container body 22 and extends vertically upward. The columnar portion 23 may be configured as a separate member from the container body 22 or may be configured integrally with the container body 22 . Further, it is preferable that the columnar portion 23 is provided with a scale (not shown) for measuring the storage amount of liquefied nitrogen. In this case, since the scale serves as a guideline for filling the immersion container 21 with liquefied nitrogen, the conditions for absorbing the liquefied nitrogen into the cold storage member 7 can be made constant.

Since the immersion container 21 has the columnar portion 23 , the amount of liquefied nitrogen used can be reduced by the volume of the columnar portion 23 . Further, when the cool storage member 7 is inserted into the immersion container 21 , the cylindrical space (cylindrical space) 7</b>A inside the cool storage member 7 is inserted through the columnar portion 23 . As a result, the gap between the container body 22 and the cold storage member 7 is reduced, so the amount of liquefied nitrogen used can be reduced.

The material of the immersion container 21 is not particularly limited, but a heat insulating material such as polystyrene foam may be used.

(Method for transporting frozen sample)
Next, a configuration of a frozen sample transport method using the frozen sample transport carriage 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a transport object of a method for transporting a frozen sample, which is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. Also, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a method of transporting a frozen sample, which is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

A method for transporting a frozen sample, which is one embodiment to which the present invention is applied, is a method of transporting a frozen sample from a pre-freezing device that cools the frozen sample to a temperature below the storage temperature to a cryopreserving device that freezes the frozen sample, using the frozen sample transport vehicle of the above-described embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the frozen sample transport method of the present embodiment, a biological sample to be cryopreserved is contained in a vial 31 . One or more vial boxes 32 in which a plurality of vials 31 are inserted are stored in the rack L and transported.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the frozen sample transportation method of the present embodiment, the frozen sample is taken out from the pre-freezing device 41 together with the rack L, stored in the cold storage chamber 4 of the frozen sample transport carriage 1 described above, and transported to the cryopreservation device 51 while keeping the frozen sample cold under the gas phase.

"Preliminary freeze"
Specifically, in the frozen sample transport method of the present embodiment, first, the biological sample is pre-frozen.
For pre-freezing, three racks L are prepared, the racks are placed in the pre-freezing device 41, and pre-freezing is performed according to a predetermined temperature cooling program (for example, from +4°C to -80°C for about 45 to 90 minutes).

"Preparation of cold storage material"
Next, after the liquefied nitrogen is stored in the immersion container 21 described above, the cold storage member 7 is immersed in the liquefied nitrogen so that the absorbent 9 absorbs the liquefied nitrogen (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

"Cooling of cold storage room"
Next, the cold storage member 7 that has completely absorbed the liquefied nitrogen is inserted into the space 5 in each of the cold storage chambers 4 of the carriage 1 for frozen samples. As a result, the ambient temperature of the space 5 in the cold insulation chamber 4 can be cooled to -80°C or lower in a short time. The ambient temperature of the space 5 in the cold storage chamber 4 can be appropriately set by appropriately adjusting the material of the absorbent 9 of the cold storage member 7, the volume of the absorbent 9, the immersion time of the absorbent 9, the immersion height of the absorbent 9, and the heat insulating performance of the cold insulating chamber 4.

"Transfer of frozen samples"
Next, after the pre-freezing process by the pre-freezing device 41 is completed, the three racks L in the pre-freezing device 41 are inserted together with the racks L into the spaces 5 in the cold storage chambers 4 of the frozen sample carrier 1 .

"Moving work"
Next, the frozen sample carrier 1 is moved from the preliminary freezer 41 to the immediate vicinity of the cryopreservation device 51 . That is, the frozen sample carrier 1 is used to transport the rack L containing the frozen sample while keeping it cool in a gas phase atmosphere.

"Cryopreservation"
Next, the frozen samples are taken out from the cold-storage chambers 4 of the frozen-sample carrier 1 together with the racks L, quickly transferred to the cryopreservation device 51, and then cryopreserved. In this embodiment, since it can be handled in units of rack L, it is possible to transfer to a cryopreservation container within a minimum time (for example, within about 5 seconds). Therefore, temperature rise of the frozen sample can be suppressed.

As described above, according to the frozen sample transport vehicle 1 and the frozen sample transport method of the present embodiment, a large amount of frozen samples can be transported while being kept cool at the gas phase ambient temperature (-80 to -180°C).

According to the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment, since the rack L storing the frozen sample can be transported, a large amount of sample can be transported at once.
Further, according to the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment, since the cold storage member 7 is used as the cold heat source of the cold storage chamber 4, the stored liquefied nitrogen is not used for cooling the frozen sample. Therefore, it can be transported while being kept cool at the gas phase ambient temperature (-80 to -180°C).
In addition, according to the frozen sample carrier 1 of the present embodiment, since liquefied nitrogen is not stored in the carrier, the consumption of liquefied nitrogen can be reduced, and liquefied nitrogen can be prevented from entering the frozen sample. Furthermore, it becomes possible to reduce the weight of the truck.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design and the like are included within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described frozen sample carrier 1, a configuration including the cold storage member 7 having the absorbent 9 that absorbs liquefied nitrogen and the holding member 10 that holds the shape of the absorbent is described as an example, but the configuration is not limited to this.

For example, the frozen sample carrier of the present invention may be configured to use a cold storage device in which a cold insulator is enclosed in a container as the cold storage member. When a cold storage device is used as a cold storage member, the gas phase atmosphere in the cold storage chamber 4 can be cooled to -80°C by spreading the cold storage device cooled to about -180°C on the bottom and side surfaces of the space 5 in the cold storage chamber 4.
A container made of resin can be used as the container for the cool storage device.
As the cooling agent, for example, one containing water and salt can be used.
The temperature maintained in the cold storage chamber 4 can be appropriately changed depending on, for example, the material of the cold insulator, the capacity of the cold insulator, the cooling temperature of the cold storage device, and the like.

By using a cold storage device as the cold storage member, the rack L can be cooled to a temperature higher than that of the cold storage member 7 described above. For example, when the rack L is transported to a cryopreservation apparatus that performs cryopreservation at a temperature (-150°C) higher than the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196°C), the rack L becomes too cold during transportation in the above-described embodiment. Therefore, since the temperature fluctuation of the rack L as described above damages the samples accommodated in the rack L, it is preferable that the fluctuation is as small as possible.
In such a case, by using a cold storage device as a cold storage member, the cold insulation temperature can be adjusted in a range not higher than the temperature of the preliminary freezer and not lower than the temperature of the cryopreservation device, so the temperature rise as described above does not occur, and damage to the sample due to temperature fluctuations can be reduced.

Further, in the frozen sample carrier 1 of the above-described embodiment, the case where the entire rack L containing the frozen sample is kept cold has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be in the form of carrying a bag containing a sample. Also, one sample may be stored in one cold storage chamber 4, or a plurality of samples may be stored. From the viewpoint of suppressing the temperature rise of the samples when the samples are taken in and out, it is preferable to store the samples in one cooling chamber 4 in units of racks.

In the frozen sample carrier 1 of the above-described embodiment, the case where the space 5 of the cold insulation chamber 4 has a square prism shape and the space 7A of the cold storage member 7 has a cylindrical shape has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the shape of the space 5 and the space 7 may be columnar whose bottom surface is a polygon other than a circle or a square.

In the frozen sample carrier 1 of the above-described embodiment, the case where the space 5 of the cold storage chamber 4 extends vertically and is a cylindrical (columnar) heat insulating space with an open top has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the space 5 of the cold insulation chamber 4 may be a heat insulating space that extends horizontally and opens to the side surface of the main body 2 .

Further, instead of the immersion container 21 of the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, an immersion container 61 in which a protective cover 62 made of resin or metal is attached to a part or all of the container body 22 and the columnar portion 23 may be used. Thereby, when the cold storage member 7 is immersed in the immersion container 61 , the heat insulating material of the container body 22 and the columnar portion 23 can be protected from collision with the cold storage member 7 .

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Frozen sample carrier 2 Main body 3 Moving mechanism 4 Cooling chamber 4A Opening 4B Bottom surface 4C Inner peripheral surface 5 Space (insulating space)
6 lid member 7 cold storage member 7A space (cylindrical space)
8, 12 Spacer member 9 Absorbent material 10 Holding member 11 Handle 13 Caster 14 Handles 21, 61 Immersion container 22 Container body 23 Column 31 Vial 32 Vial box 41 Pre-freezing device 51 Cryopreservation device 62 Protective cover L Rack

Claims (9)

A trolley for transporting a frozen sample while keeping it cold under a gas phase,
a main body having one or more cooling chambers for storing and keeping the frozen sample cold;
a moving mechanism for moving the main body,
The cold storage chamber has a space insulated from the surrounding environment, an opening serving as an entrance and exit of the space, a detachable lid member provided in the opening, and a cold storage member arranged in the space to supply cold heat to the space. 2. The frozen sample carrier according to claim 1, wherein said cold storage member comprises an absorbent material that absorbs liquefied nitrogen and a holding member that retains the shape of said absorbent material. 3. The frozen sample carrier according to claim 2, wherein said cold storage member has a cylindrical space capable of accommodating said frozen sample, and said cold storage chamber is arranged such that said cylindrical space communicates with said opening. 2. The carriage for frozen samples according to claim 1, wherein said cold storage member is a cold storage device in which a cold insulator is enclosed in a container. 5. The frozen sample carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising one or more spacer members positioned in said space and inhibiting contact between the inner peripheral surface of said cold storage chamber and said cool storage member. An immersion container for absorbing liquefied nitrogen by immersing a cold storage member having an absorbent material that absorbs liquefied nitrogen, a holding member that retains the shape of the absorbent material, and allowing the absorbent material to absorb the liquefied nitrogen,
A container body for storing the liquefied nitrogen,
The immersion container, wherein the inner peripheral surface of the container body and the outer peripheral surface of the cold storage member have the same shape. The cold storage member has a cylindrical space,
The immersion container according to claim 6, wherein the container body has a columnar portion that can be inserted into the cylindrical space. 8. The immersion container according to claim 7, wherein the columnar portion is provided with a scale for measuring the storage amount of the liquefied nitrogen. A method of transporting a frozen sample from a pre-freezing device for cooling a frozen sample to a temperature below a storage temperature to a cryopreservation device for cryopreserving the frozen sample, using the frozen sample carrier according to claim 1,
A method of transporting a frozen sample, comprising storing the frozen sample taken out from the preliminary freezing device in a cold storage chamber and transporting the frozen sample to the cryopreservation device while keeping the frozen sample cold in a gas phase.

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