JP2023145099A - Weighing mechanism and chemical solution synthesis device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a weighing mechanism which enables easy access into and easy checking of contamination in a chamber to suppress production efficiency deterioration, and to provide a chemical solution synthesis device.SOLUTION: A weighing mechanism for weighing a liquid is provided, comprising a weighing container capable of storing a liquid flowing in, and a chamber configured to house the weighing container and isolate the same from an external environment, where liquid feeding piping for sending the liquid to the weighing container runs through a side wall of the chamber.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a measuring mechanism and a chemical liquid synthesis device that measure a liquid to be sent without being exposed to the atmosphere.

In a chemical synthesis device that chemically synthesizes proteins, peptides, polymers, nucleic acids, etc., chemical synthesis is performed by supplying a plurality of chemical solutions (reagents) to a reaction container. For example, when synthesizing nucleic acids, a large number of carriers (porous beads) are provided in a reaction container, and while a chemical solution is sequentially supplied to the reaction container, detritylation, coupling, oxidation, capping, etc. The process is repeated to bind bases to the carrier one after another.

As shown in FIG. 5, for example, such a chemical liquid synthesis apparatus includes a storage container 100 that stores a chemical liquid, a measuring mechanism 101 that measures the chemical liquid supplied from the storage container 100, and a reaction system that chemically synthesizes the measured chemical liquid. A container 102 is provided. This weighing mechanism 101 is provided with a weighing container 103 that temporarily stores the chemical liquid sent from the storage container 100, and a weight sensor (for example, a load cell) 104 that measures the weight of the chemical liquid supplied to the measuring container 103. ing. Since the weighing container 103 measures the weight of the medicinal liquid in the weighing container 103 by the weight sensor 104, the piping 106 is configured so as not to come into contact with the weighing container 103. That is, the chemical liquid in the storage container 100 is sent to the measuring container 103 through the pipe 106 without coming into contact with the atmosphere, and only the fed chemical liquid is measured in the measuring container 103 in the chamber part 105. Then, when the weight reaches a predetermined value, the liquid feeding is stopped, and the measured chemical liquid is fed to the reaction container 102 through the piping 107 by pressurizing the chamber section 105. As a result, precisely measured chemical solutions are sequentially supplied to the reaction container 102, so that chemical synthesis can be performed without wasting the chemical solution, and bases can be bonded to the carrier one after another.

Since such a chemical liquid synthesis apparatus handles highly pure chemical liquid, operating it in a state where there is contamination caused by volatile components of the chemical liquid in the chamber section 105 will cause a decrease in the accuracy of the synthesis reaction. Therefore, cleaning work is performed at a predetermined timing when dirt occurs, such as after a predetermined synthesis processing time has elapsed. Specifically, in order to access the inside of the chamber part 105, it is necessary to remove the top lid 108, but as shown in FIG. Remove all piping. Then, as shown in FIG. 6(b), by removing the top cover 108, the interior of the chamber section 105 is manually accessed, and cleaning work inside the chamber section 105 is performed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-167158

However, the above-mentioned chemical liquid synthesis apparatus has a problem in that cleaning work is complicated and time-consuming. That is, as described above, in order to access the chamber section 105, it is necessary to remove the top cover 108 of the chamber section 105, so it is necessary to remove all the piping 106 attached to the top cover 108. Since the piping 106 is provided independently for each type of chemical solution, the number of piping 106 has increased in recent years, making the work extremely cumbersome.

Furthermore, if there is no dirt after removing the top cover 108, there is a problem in that the removal work is wasted and production efficiency is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a metering mechanism and a chemical liquid synthesis device that allow easy access to the inside of the chamber, make it easy to check for dirt, and prevent a decrease in production efficiency. It is intended to.

In order to solve the above problems, the measuring mechanism of the present invention is a measuring mechanism for measuring liquid, which includes a measuring container capable of storing the sent liquid, and a measuring container that accommodates the measuring container and is separated from the external environment. and a chamber portion, and a liquid feeding pipe for feeding liquid to the measuring container is provided so as to pass through a side wall portion of the chamber portion.

According to the above-mentioned metering mechanism, since the liquid feeding pipe is inserted through the side wall of the chamber, the chamber can be easily accessed by simply removing the top cover without having to remove the liquid feeding pipe. be able to. Even if there is no dirt when accessing the chamber, there is no need to install the piping, so the work time is reduced compared to the conventional case where the piping must be removed and installed. can be shortened, and a decline in production efficiency can be suppressed.

Further, the ceiling wall of the chamber may be provided with a viewing window through which the inside of the chamber can be viewed.

According to the above-mentioned measuring mechanism, since the viewing window is provided in the top wall of the chamber, the inside of the chamber can be visually observed through the viewing window. Furthermore, when volatile components adhere, the visibility of the viewing window deteriorates, so the timing of cleaning work can be visually determined. In other words, if volatile components adhere to the top wall, there is a risk that they will fall into the measuring container and affect the purity of the liquid (including chemical solutions), but the visibility window allows you to visually detect volatile component contamination. Therefore, by cleaning the drops before they fall, problems affecting purity can be avoided.

Further, the viewing window may be configured to be openable and closable so that the measuring container in the chamber section can be accessed in a state in which a liquid feeding pipe for feeding liquid to the measuring container is fixed. good.

According to this configuration, since the viewing window opens and closes, the measuring container can be easily accessed through the viewing window.

Further, a side wall portion of the chamber portion may be provided with a viewing window through which the metering container accommodated therein can be visually recognized.

With this configuration, since the viewing window is provided on the side wall, dirt inside the chamber can be confirmed through the viewing window, making it easy to find dirt inside the chamber.

Further, the viewing window may be provided with a cover member that blocks light inside the chamber.

According to this configuration, since it is possible to suppress light from entering through the viewing window, it is possible to use the liquid (including the chemical liquid) even if it reacts to light.

In order to solve the above problems, the chemical liquid synthesis apparatus of the present invention includes a measuring container according to any one of the above and a reaction vessel in which a liquid chemical liquid is reacted, and the measured chemical liquid is sequentially passed through piping to the chemical liquid synthesizer. It is characterized in that the chemical solutions are fed into the reaction container, thereby allowing the chemical solutions to undergo a synthetic reaction with each other within the reaction container.

According to this synthesis apparatus, the inside of the chamber can be easily accessed, and dirt can be easily checked, thereby suppressing a decrease in production efficiency.

According to the metering mechanism and chemical liquid synthesis device of the present invention, it is possible to easily access the inside of the chamber, and it is possible to easily check for dirt, thereby suppressing a decrease in production efficiency.

1 is a schematic piping route diagram of the chemical liquid synthesis apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure of the metering mechanism of the above-mentioned chemical liquid synthesis device. It is a figure showing the state where the top wall part of the above-mentioned metering mechanism is open. It is a figure showing the state where the visual recognition window of the above-mentioned metering mechanism is open. It is a figure showing a conventional chemical liquid synthesis device and a measuring mechanism. It is a figure which shows the conventional measuring mechanism, (a) is a figure which shows the state with which the upper cover is closed, and (b) is a figure which shows the state with the upper cover removed.

Embodiments of the measuring mechanism and chemical liquid synthesis device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a piping route diagram showing a chemical liquid synthesis apparatus equipped with a metering mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that in this embodiment, an example in which a chemical solution (reagent) is used as the liquid will be described, but the present invention is not limited to chemical solutions, and is also applicable to cases where liquids other than chemical solutions are chemically synthesized, mixed, etc. be able to.

As shown in FIG. 1, the chemical liquid synthesis apparatus includes a storage container 1 in which a chemical liquid is stored, a measuring mechanism 2 that measures the chemical liquid, and a reaction vessel 3 that accommodates the chemical liquid measured by the measuring mechanism 2 and performs chemical synthesis. It is equipped with a drain tank 4 that stores the chemical solution discharged from the reaction container 3, and is connected to each other through piping 5. Then, a predetermined chemical solution necessary for the reaction is sent to the measuring mechanism 2, where it is accurately measured, and the measured chemical solution is sequentially supplied to the reaction container 3, thereby performing detritylation and coupling. , oxidation, capping, etc. are repeated to bond bases to beads (also called carriers) one after another. Thereby, a desired base can be formed without wasting the chemical solution.

The storage container 1 is for storing reagents used in chemical synthesis. A plurality of storage containers 1 are provided, and in the example of FIG. 1, only two storage containers 1 are shown, but in reality, a large number of storage containers 1 are provided. Each storage container 1 is connected to a metering mechanism 2 by a liquid feeding pipe 5a.

In addition, a pressurizing means (not shown) (a factory gas source, a gas cylinder, etc.) is connected to the container 1, and the pressure in the container 1 is adjusted by this pressurizing means, so that the chemical solution is delivered. It looks like this. That is, when gas is supplied to the storage container 1 by the pressurizing means, the storage container 1 is pressurized and the medicinal solution is sent to the metering mechanism 2 through the liquid delivery pipe 5a. The liquid sending pipe 5a is provided with a valve Va, and by switching the open/closed state of the valve Va, only the chemical liquid selected from the plurality of storage containers 1 can be sent to the reaction container 3. . Note that the pressurizing means uses a gas that does not react with the chemical solution in the container 1 (for example, an inert gas, argon gas, etc.).

Further, a metering mechanism 2 is provided on the downstream side of the storage container 1. The measuring mechanism 2 measures the supplied chemical solution. The metering mechanism 2 includes a metering container 21 for metering a chemical solution, and the metering container 21 and the liquid feeding pipe 5a are connected in a non-contact manner. The measuring container 21 is connected to a liquid feeding pipe 5b for feeding the measured liquid chemical, so that the chemical liquid can be fed to the reaction container 3 through the liquid feeding pipe 5b. That is, the chemical solution measured by the metering mechanism 2 is sent to the reaction container 3 through the pipe 5b.

Further, the reaction container 3 provides a reaction field where supplied chemical solutions and the like are brought into contact and chemically synthesized. The reaction container 3 is a cylindrical tube extending in one direction, and a carrier (not shown) is accommodated in the reaction container 3. Moreover, ports 3a to which piping 5 can be connected are provided at both ends of the reaction vessel 3, and a liquid feeding piping 5b and a liquid draining piping 5c are connected to each port 3a. When the chemical solution is introduced into the reaction container 3 from the liquid feeding pipe 5b, the chemical solution spreads in the radial direction and is stored in the reaction container 3, whereby the chemical solution and the carrier are chemically synthesized, and a base is bonded to the carrier. be done.

Further, on the downstream side (outflow side) of the reaction vessel 3, a drain tank 4 is provided to store the chemical liquid etc. drained after the reaction in the reaction vessel 3 is completed. The drain tank 4 is formed to have a larger capacity than the reaction vessel 3, and has a capacity that can store the liquid even if the liquid is drained from the reaction vessel 3 multiple times.

The weighing mechanism 2 also includes a chamber section 22 having a sealed structure, a weighing container 21 disposed within the chamber section 22, a support unit 23 that supports the weighing container 21, and a weight sensor 24. The chemical solution supplied to the measuring container 21 is configured to be measured by a weight sensor 24 attached to the chamber section 22 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the chamber section 22 is formed so that the inside of the chamber section 22 is maintained in a predetermined environment. The chamber portion 22 has a cylindrical shape, and is formed by connecting a top wall portion 22a at an upper position, a side wall portion 22b at a side surface position, and a bottom wall portion 22c at a bottom position. As a result, the chamber part 22 is formed in a sealed state and is isolated from the outside (separated from the external environment), and by filling the chamber part 22 with inert gas, a predetermined constant environment is maintained. has been done. This prevents the supplied chemical from coming into contact with the atmosphere (outside air) and deteriorating the quality of the chemical, thereby preventing the accuracy of chemical synthesis from deteriorating.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the top wall portion 22a can be removed from the side wall portion 22b, and by removing the top wall portion 22a, it is possible to access the inside of the chamber portion 22. ing. That is, in regular cleaning work of the inside of the chamber part 22 and the measuring container 21, by removing the top wall part 22a, a human hand is inserted into the inside of the chamber part 22 to perform work such as wiping. There is. Since the top wall portion 22a is fixed to the side wall portion 22b with a fixing member such as a bolt, the top wall portion 22a can be easily removed by removing the fixing member.

In this embodiment, the chamber part 22 is configured to maintain a predetermined pressure, but depending on the type of liquid (chemical solution) used, it may be sufficient to surround the measuring container 21, and the degree of sealing may be changed. A lower chamber portion 22 may also be used.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the weighing container 21 is supported within the chamber section 22 by a support unit 23, and the weighing container 21 is disposed at a substantially central position within the chamber section 22. That is, the measuring container 21 is accommodated in a non-contact manner with the chamber part 22 and is supported by the support unit 23. The measuring container 21 of this embodiment has a tapered cylindrical tip portion 21c (see FIG. 2), and an opening portion 21b located on the opposite side of the tip portion 21c is located above the chamber portion 22. It is formed in an open state. Each of them is supported by the support unit 23 with the tip portion 21c facing downward, and the liquid feeding pipe 5a connected to the storage container 1 is connected to the opening 21b.

A plurality of liquid feeding pipes 5a are connected to the opening 21b of the measuring container 21. Specifically, the liquid feeding pipe 5a connected to each storage container 1 is connected to the pipe insertion part 22d of the side wall 22b (see FIG. 2) of the chamber part 22, and the liquid feeding pipe inserted into the chamber part 22. 5a is supported by the piping support part 25 in an aggregated state. In the example of FIG. 2, all the liquid feeding pipes 5a are fixed and held by the pipe support part 25 in a bundled state. The tip portion 5t of each liquid feeding pipe 5a is partially accommodated in the opening 21b of the measuring container 21. That is, the tip portions 5t of the liquid feeding pipes 5a are held together in a bundle while maintaining a predetermined distance from each other, and are held in a non-contact state in the opening 21b. As a result, each of the tip portions 5t of the liquid feeding piping 5a is held in a non-contact manner in the measuring container 21 without coming into contact with other liquid feeding piping 5a, and the chemical liquid discharged from the tip portion 5t of the liquid feeding piping 5a is held in a non-contact manner. It is possible to prevent the residual liquid adhering to the tip portion 5t of the other liquid feeding pipe 5a from being drawn in.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the measuring mechanism 2 is formed so as to be able to accurately measure the supplied chemical solution, and in this embodiment, it is formed so as to be able to measure it with a weight sensor 24. In this embodiment, the weight sensor 24 is composed of a load cell, and is arranged outside the chamber section 22. That is, when a chemical solution is supplied from the liquid feeding pipe 5a to the measuring container 21, the weight of the chemical solution is measured by the weight sensor 24 through the support unit 23, so that the weight of the supplied chemical solution can be measured. There is.

Here, as described above, the tip portion 5t of the liquid feeding pipe 5a (see FIG. 2) is held in a non-contact manner with the measuring container 21. Further, a liquid feeding pipe 5b is connected to the tip portion 21c of the measuring container 21, and is connected to the reaction container 3 on the downstream side. This liquid feeding pipe 5b is provided with an extra length m, and by providing this extra length m, edges are cut and the measuring container 21 is made movable. Thereby, only the weight of the chemical solution supplied to the measuring container 21 acts on the load cell, which is the weight sensor 24, so that the weight of the chemical solution can be measured with high accuracy.

Further, the chamber portion 22 is provided with a viewing window 7a. This viewing window 7a is for viewing the inside of the chamber portion 22. In this embodiment, a viewing window 7a is provided in the upper part of the chamber portion 22, that is, a top wall portion 22a, and a viewing window 7b is provided in the side wall portion 22b. Here, the viewing window 7a and the viewing window 7b are simply referred to as the viewing window 7 unless there is a particular need to distinguish between them.

The viewing window 7a is embedded and integrally provided in the chamber part 22 made of a metal material such as SUS, and is made of a transparent material (for example, glass, quartz, acrylic resin, polycarbonate, etc.). ing. Therefore, the inside of the chamber section 22 can be visually observed through the viewing window 7a without disassembling the chamber section.

In the example of FIG. 2, the viewing window 7a is provided so as to extend over the entire top wall portion 22a, and is placed directly above the weighing container 21, so that the weighing container 21 can be seen directly from the viewing window 7a. The entire inside of the chamber section 22 can be visually recognized. Thereby, it is possible to check from the viewing window 7a whether or not volatile components of the chemical solution have adhered to the top wall portion 22a. That is, when volatile components of the chemical solution float, they adhere to the top wall 22a and fall into the measuring container 21 as drops, which affects the purity of the chemical solution. Therefore, volatile components adhere to the ceiling wall portion 22a and the viewing window 7a. When the volatile components adhere to the viewing window 7a, the viewing window 7a gets dirty, and the transparency of the viewing window 7a deteriorates, so that it is possible to visually confirm that dirt has occurred inside the chamber section 22. That is, by performing the cleaning work before the volatile components fall as drops, it is possible to avoid the problem of drops falling into the measuring container 21.

Further, the viewing window 7a is formed to be openable and closable. That is, the viewing window 7a is provided with a hinge member (not shown), and as shown in FIG. 4, the viewing window 7a is formed to open upwardly around the hinge member. When the viewing window 7a is open, an opening 22e is formed in the top wall 22a, and the inside of the chamber 22 can be accessed through this opening 22e. In other words, it is possible to insert a human hand through the opening 22e to remove dirt within the chamber portion 22. In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to access the inside of the chamber part 22 through the viewing window 7a without removing the top wall part 22a, which relieves the trouble of removing the top wall part 22a, and also makes it possible to transfer liquid. Compared to the conventional method in which all the piping 5a had to be removed, cleaning work can be easily performed without removing the liquid feeding piping 5a.

Further, the viewing window 7b is for viewing the inside of the chamber portion 22. That is, by viewing the chamber portion 22 through the viewing window 7b, dirt within the chamber portion 22 can be visually confirmed. In particular, the visibility window 7b allows the ceiling wall 22a to be viewed from the side of the chamber 22 compared to the visibility window 7a of the ceiling wall 22a, making it easier to discover dirt on the ceiling wall 22a. I can do it. Since the viewing window 7b allows the measuring container 21 to be viewed from the side, it is also possible to detect dirt on the measuring container 21 and check the reaction status within the measuring container 21. Note that the viewing window 7b is made of the same material as the viewing window 7a of the top wall portion 22a.

Further, the viewing window 7 is provided with a cover member (not shown) having a light blocking property, and the cover member is configured to be openable and closable. As a result, when using a chemical liquid that reacts to light, by closing the viewing window 7 with the cover member, the chemical liquid reacts with the light incident through the viewing window 7, and the properties of the chemical liquid change. can be suppressed.

As described above, according to the liquid chemical synthesis device and the measuring mechanism in the above embodiment, the viewing window 7a is provided in the top wall portion 22a of the chamber portion 22, so that the inside of the chamber portion 22 can be visually observed through the viewing window 7a. Furthermore, when volatile components adhere, the visibility of the viewing window 7a becomes poor, so the timing of cleaning work can be visually determined.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which both the ceiling wall portion 22a and the viewing window 7a open, but the ceiling wall portion 22a may be fixed and only the viewing window 7a may open. 7a may be fixed and the top wall portion 22a may be open.

1 Storage container 2 Measuring mechanism 3 Reaction container 7 Visualization window 7a Visualization window (top wall)
7b Visibility window (side wall)
21 Measuring container 22 Chamber part 22a Top wall part 22b Side wall part

Claims (6)

A measuring mechanism for measuring liquid,
a measuring container capable of storing the delivered liquid;
a chamber portion that accommodates the measuring container and separates it from the external environment;
Equipped with
A measuring mechanism characterized in that a liquid feeding pipe for feeding liquid to the measuring container is provided so as to pass through a side wall portion of the chamber portion. 2. The weighing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the top wall of the chamber section is provided with a viewing window through which the inside of the chamber section can be viewed. The viewing window is formed to be openable and closable so that the measuring container in the chamber section can be accessed in a state where a liquid feeding pipe for feeding liquid to the measuring container is fixed. The measuring mechanism according to item 1 or 2. 4. The weighing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a side wall of the chamber section is provided with a viewing window through which the weighing container accommodated therein can be viewed. The measuring mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the viewing window is provided with a cover member that blocks light inside the chamber. The measuring container of the measuring mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is connected to a reaction container in which a liquid chemical solution is reacted, and the measured chemical solution is sequentially sent to the reaction container through piping. A chemical liquid synthesis apparatus characterized in that chemical liquids are subjected to a synthetic reaction in the reaction container by performing a synthetic reaction.

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