JP2815912B2 - Petri dish transfer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] According to the present invention, petri dishes (petri dishes) stored in a stacked state are automatically taken out one by one and required work is performed as necessary. Thereafter, the petri dish which has been carried out of the system, or the petri dish which has been carried in one by one, is subjected to necessary work on the petri dish as required, and is sequentially stacked and stored. The petri dish transfer device is used, for example, for producing a large amount of a drug-containing medium in an agar plate dilution method, which is one of the methods for testing the susceptibility of bacteria to chemotherapeutic agents, and for a method for measuring the number of viable bacteria.
When preparing a medium containing a large amount of bacterial solution in the pour plate culture method, the test drug solution or bacterial solution diluted to various concentrations by the automatic dilution / dispensing device installed at the previous stage and the unsolidified liquid In the process of sequentially dispensing agar and empty petri dishes, and in the step of marking numerical values and symbols etc. indicating the type of test agent, dilution of drug solution or bacterial solution etc. on the lid of each dish, etc. What is used.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in the test by the agar plate dilution method used for the chemotherapeutic agent sensitivity test, the test drug solution is serially diluted, for example, to prepare a drug diluent of various concentrations, for example, serially diluted twice in about 10 to 15 steps, A fixed amount of each prepared diluent and a fixed amount of agar in a heated and fluidized state are sequentially dispensed into a Petri dish, and after mixing both in the Petri dish, the agar is solidified and serially diluted. A series of culture media containing the test agents was prepared, and the test bacteria were inoculated on each of the plate media, and stored in an incubator or incubator for a predetermined time to culture the test bacteria, followed by the growth of the test bacteria. By observing the presence or absence of a drug, the lowest concentration of a drug that inhibits growth, that is, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is determined.

In addition, for the measurement of viable cell count by the pour plate method, prepare 10-fold serial dilutions of the bacterial solution for which the cell count is to be determined, and add a fixed amount of each dilution and a fixed amount of agar medium to a petri dish. Pour culture is performed by sequentially dispensing, and the number of colonies is counted for a plate medium in which about 200 colonies (colonies) are formed in the series of the medium, and the number of colonies is counted based on the number of colonies, and the dilution ratio is determined. By calculating backward, the number of viable bacteria in the original bacterial solution is determined.

By the way, when a drug solution diluted twice or a bacterial solution diluted serially 10 times and a liquid agar are respectively dispensed into a petri dish to prepare a drug-containing medium or a bacterial solution-containing medium, conventionally, Stacking Petri dishes with empty lids, preparing several piles of Petri dishes, the operator taking out Petri dishes one by one from those Petri dishes one by one from the topmost one, removing the cover lid, After dispensing the drug solution or bacterial solution and the liquid agar, the petri dish was again covered with a lid. The above series of operations is performed manually, and even when the dispensing operation of liquid agar or the like into the petri dish is automated by an automatic dispensing device, supply of the petri dish to the dispensing position and dispensing Removal of the petri dish from the dispensing position after the end of the injection has been performed manually.

Also, the petri dish containing the prepared drug (bacterial solution) -containing medium should take up as little space as possible.
Petri dishes containing a plate medium stacked on a workbench or the like and inoculated with a test bacterium are transported to an incubator or an incubator in a state where a large number of Petri dishes are stacked. Has traditionally relied on manual labor.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Meanwhile, in business establishments that require the above-mentioned drug-containing medium, for example, pharmaceutical company laboratories and clinical test centers, a large amount of medium is consumed, and thus many drug-containing media are prepared at once. In a laboratory or the like in which a large number of drug-containing media must be prepared at a time as described above, it is very difficult for an operator to perform the above-described operation of supplying and discharging the petri dish and stacking the petri dish by hand as in the past. It is annoying. In recent years, there is a tendency to try to fully automate various kinds of inspection work. However, if the petri dish transfer operation described above has to be manually performed, for example, a flat plate dilution method is used. This is an obstacle when trying to automate the entire series of inspection work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can automatically transfer a petri dish in a sensitivity test by an agar plate dilution method or a viable cell count measurement by a pour plate culture method. A technical object is to provide a simple petri dish transfer device.

[Means for solving the problem]

According to the present invention, as a technical means for achieving the above object, a petri dish transfer device is configured as follows. That is, the petri dish transfer device according to the present invention is a rotary stocker that houses a number of petri dishes and rotates intermittently, a rotary drive unit that rotates this rotary stocker, a guide table provided below the rotary stocker, A rotary table disposed adjacent to and at the same height as the guide table, a rotary drive means for rotating the rotary table, a fixed table disposed below the rotary table, a lifting support member, and a lifting support Driving means for reciprocatingly driving members, a gripper mechanism for gripping a petri dish, a petri dish transfer means reciprocating between an area of the rotary table and an external area thereof, and a driving means for reciprocating the petri dish transferring means It is provided with. The rotary stocker has a horizontal holding plate in which a plurality of holding holes into which a petri dish in a horizontal posture is loosely fitted are equally arranged in a circumferential direction, and the horizontal holding plate is rotatably supported in a horizontal plane. And a holding member for holding a plurality of Petri dishes in a stacked state at the positions of the holding holes. The guide table is disposed below and parallel to the horizontal holding plate of the rotary stocker, and the outer bottom surface of the lowermost petri dish stored in the rotary stocker along with the rotation of the rotary stocker slides horizontally. It has a smooth surface, and a part of the periphery is cut off in an arc shape. The rotary table has a circular planar shape, the upper surface is a horizontal smooth surface, and the horizontal smooth surface is flush with the horizontal smooth surface of the guide table. It is arranged such that a part of the circumference enters and the side surfaces are close to each other, and is supported rotatably in a horizontal plane. In addition, the rotary table has at least two holding holes into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely fitted.
The circular arc-shaped cut portions are formed at positions overlapping with the holding holes of the horizontal holding plate. The fixed table is disposed below and in parallel with the rotary table, and has a horizontal smooth surface on which the outer bottom surface of the petri dish held in the holding hole slides as the rotary table rotates. The distance between the horizontal smooth surface and the horizontal smooth surface forming the upper surface of the rotary table has a size corresponding to the height of one petri dish, and penetrates to a position corresponding to the arc-shaped cutout of the guide table. A hole is formed. Further, the elevating support member has a support part that moves up and down through the through hole of the fixed table, and the gripping mechanism of the petri dish transfer means is provided on the rotary table, in the arc-shaped cut part of the guide table. The petri dish held by the holding hole moved to a position other than the corresponding position can be gripped.

In the above-described petri dish transfer device, instead of disposing a fixed table below the rotary table, the rotary table is made thicker, and each holding hole into which the petri dish is loosely fitted is formed as a bottomed hole. The depth of the holding hole is set to a size corresponding to the height of one petri dish, and a through hole is formed in the bottom of the hole, and the supporting portion of the lifting support member is passed through the through hole in the bottom of each holding hole of the rotary table. It is configured to be moved up and down.

It is preferable that three of the holding holes formed in the rotary table are equally arranged in the circumferential direction. When a petri dish transfer device with a lid is used, it is preferable that the petri dish holding mechanism of the petri dish transfer means be provided with a suction pad for vacuum-sucking and holding the cover of the petri dish with the lid.

[Action]

In the petri dish transfer device having the above configuration, a plurality of petri dishes are stored in a stacked state on the holding member of the rotary stocker, and the rotary stocker is rotationally driven by the rotary driving unit. Since the lowermost petri dish is engaged with each holding hole of the horizontal holding plate, it moves while sliding the outer bottom surface of the lowermost petri dish on the horizontal smooth surface of the guide table with the rotation of the horizontal holding plate. . At this time, one of the holding holes of the rotary table is moved to the position of the through hole of the fixed table. When the rotary stocker rotates and the petri dish held in one of the holding holes of the horizontal holding plate moves from the guide table onto the rotary table and approaches the position of the holding hole of the rotary table, the drive means raises and lowers the support. The member is driven, and its support rises through the through hole of the fixed table, the holding hole of the rotary table, and the holding hole of the horizontal holding plate,
The lower end of the petri dish held in the holding hole of the horizontal holding plate is supported by the support portion. Since the rotary table is located in the same horizontal plane as the guide table and is arranged so that the arc-shaped cutouts of the guide table and the side surfaces are close to each other, the rotary table is held in one of the holding holes of the horizontal holding plate. The moved petri dish is smoothly moved from the guide table to the rotating table without rattling or the like. Then, when the holding hole of the horizontal holding plate of the rotary stocker and the holding hole of the rotary table completely overlap, the support portion of the lifting support member descends. When the support of the elevating support member is lowered until the outer bottom surface of the lowermost petri dish and the upper surface of the fixed table are at the same height position, the rotary table is rotationally driven by the rotary driving means. At this time, since the distance between the upper surface of the fixed table and the upper surface of the rotary table is a dimension corresponding to the height of one petri dish, the rotation of the rotary table causes the lowermost petri dish held in the holding hole of the rotary table to rotate. However, while the outer bottom surface is moved while sliding on the horizontal smooth surface of the fixed table, the petri dish which was stored in the rotary stocker and was located second from the bottom is the lowermost petri dish which moves and the outer bottom surface. Are slid in contact with each other, and then transferred from the upper surface of the lowermost petri dish to the upper surface of the rotary table, where the horizontal smooth surface of the upper surface of the rotary table and the outer bottom surface are slidably contacted. Then, when the rotary table is further rotated and another holding hole is moved to the position of the through hole of the fixed table, the rotary table stops.
When the rotary table stops, necessary operations are performed on the petri dish as necessary, and then the petri dish held in the holding hole of the rotary table is gripped by the gripping mechanism of the petri dish transfer means, and the petri dish is driven by the driving means. The transfer means is driven, and the dish is moved out of the area of the rotary table. Thus, a series of petri dish transfer operations is completed, and thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated.

On the other hand, when the petri dishes carried in one by one are sequentially stacked and stored in the rotating stocker, the operation opposite to the above is performed.

Also, instead of disposing a fixed table below the rotary table, each holding hole formed in the rotary table is a bottomed hole, and the depth of the bottomed holding hole is equivalent to the height of one petri dish. When the size is set to be small and through holes are formed on the bottom surface of the hole for vertically moving the support portion of the lifting support member, the petri dish is transferred by the operation according to the above operation.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an automatic agar plate making apparatus having a pair of petri dish transfer devices, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. However, FIG. 1 shows only the horizontal holding plate of the rotating stocker.

An automatic dilution / dispensing device (not shown) is installed in front of the automatic agar plate producing device, and one end of the dispensing nozzle of the automatic dilution / dispensing device in a moving range of the automatic agar plate producing device is provided. The test solution and the unsolidified liquid agar, which are located in the area of the work table 10 and are diluted and prepared to various concentrations by the automatic dilution / dispensing device, are sequentially supplied by the intermittent operation of the dispensing nozzle. It has become.

This automatic agar plate making apparatus supplies a petri dish one by one to a dispensing position of a dispensing nozzle of the above-mentioned automatic dilution and dispensing apparatus, and discharges the petri dish after the dispensing operation. A petri dish oscillating part 14 that oscillates a petri dish into which a chemical solution and liquid agar are dispensed and pours both liquids, and numbers and symbols on the surface of a petri dish cover transferred from the petri dish oscillating part 14 And a petri dish discharging unit 16 that stores the petri dishes in a stacked state sequentially.

Petri dish supply / dispensing section 12 and writing / Petri dish discharging section 16
Have a common configuration. That is, the petri dish transfer device includes a rotary stocker 20 for accommodating a large number of petri dishes 18 with lids, a rotary drive mechanism 22 for driving the rotary stocker 20 to rotate, a guide table 24 disposed below the rotary stocker 20, A rotary table 26 disposed at the same height as the table 24, disposed adjacent thereto, a rotary drive mechanism 28 for driving the rotary table 26 to rotate, a fixed table 30 disposed below and in parallel with the rotary table 26; Elevating support member 32, elevating drive mechanism 34 for reciprocatingly driving elevating support member 32, petri dish transfer device 36 for holding and moving the petri dish, and
A drive mechanism 38 for reciprocating the petri dish transfer device 36 is configured.

The rotary stocker 20 has a configuration in which a large number of vertical rods 42 are planted on the upper surface side of the horizontal holding plate 40, and a holding member having the upper ends thereof fixed to the upper horizontal plate 44 is provided. The horizontal holding plate 40 is formed with a plurality of holding holes 46 in which the petri dishes 18 in the horizontal posture are loosely fitted and are equally arranged in the circumferential direction, and the upper horizontal plate 44 is also provided with the horizontal holding plate 40. The input holes into which the petri dish 18 in a horizontal position is loosely fitted so as to correspond to each holding hole 46
A plurality of petri dishes are formed at equal positions in each holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40.
18 can be held in a stacked state. The rotary stocker 20 is supported on the guide table 24 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane.

The rotary drive mechanism 22 of the rotary stocker 20 is connected to a rotary drive motor 50, a speed reducer 52, a bearing member 54 fixedly mounted on the guide table 24 and the fixed table 20, and an output shaft of the speed reducer 52. The rotation drive shaft 56 is rotatably supported at its upper end and is connected to the center of the horizontal holding plate 40, and the rotational force of the rotary drive motor 50 is transmitted through the speed reducer 52 and the rotation transmission shaft 56. To the horizontal holding plate 40 to rotate the horizontal holding plate 40 at a low speed. Rotary drive motor 50
A control signal is sent from a control circuit (not shown) to control the operations of rotating and stopping the rotary stocker 20.

The guide table 24 is provided with a horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotating stocker 20.
And the upper surface thereof is a horizontal smooth surface. And, with the rotating operation of the rotating stocker 20,
The petri dish 18 moves while the outer bottom surface of the lowest petri dish 18 engaged and held in the holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 is in sliding contact with the horizontal smooth surface of the guide table 24. Further, the guide table 24 is formed with an arc-shaped cut portion 60 in which a part of the periphery is cut in an arc shape.

The rotary table 26 has a circular planar shape, the upper surface is a horizontal smooth surface, and the horizontal smooth surface is a guide table.
The guide table 24 is arranged so as to have the same height as the horizontal smooth surface, and so that a part of the circumference enters the arc-shaped cutout portion 60 of the guide table 24 so that the side surfaces thereof are close to each other. The rotary table 26 is formed with three holding holes 62 of the same shape into which the petri dish 18 in a horizontal posture is loosely fitted, which are equally arranged in the circumferential direction. The formation position of each holding hole 62 is set at a position corresponding to the arc-shaped cutout portion 60 of the guide table 24,
The horizontal holding plate 40 is positioned so as to overlap with the holding holes 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40. Also, two pairs of notches are formed on the inner peripheral surface of each holding hole 62.
64, 64, 66, 66 are formed respectively. The turntable 26 is rotatably supported on a fixed table 30 in a horizontal plane.

The rotary drive mechanism 28 of the rotary table 26 is a rotary drive motor.
68, reduction gear 70, bearing member 7 fixed to fixed table 30
2, and a rotation transmission shaft 74 connected to the output shaft of the reduction gear 70, rotatably supported by the bearing member 72, and having an upper end connected to the center of the turntable 26. Then, a control signal is sent from a control circuit (not shown) to the rotation drive motor 68, and the rotation drive motor 68 is controlled based on the control signal.
Is rotated and stopped, the rotational force is transmitted to the rotary table 26 via the speed reducer 70 and the rotation transmission shaft 74 as appropriate, and the rotary table 26 is intermittently rotated at a low speed. .

The upper surface of the fixed table 30 is formed as a horizontal smooth surface on which the outer bottom surface of the petri dish 18 held in the holding hole 62 is in sliding contact with the rotation of the rotary table 26. The distance between the horizontal smooth surface forming the upper surface of the fixed table 30 and the horizontal smooth surface forming the upper surface of the rotary table 26 is set to a dimension corresponding to the height of one petri dish. In the fixed table 30, a through hole 78 is formed at a position corresponding to the arcuate cutout 60 of the guide table 24 so that the upper end support of the lifting support member 32 can move up and down.

The elevating support member 32 is slidably supported by a slide bearing 82 fixed to the lower support plate 80. An elevating drive mechanism 34 for reciprocatingly driving the elevating support member 32 in the vertical direction includes a rotary drive motor 86 attached to a holding plate 84 fixed to the lower support plate 80, and attached to a rotating shaft of the rotary drive motor 86. And a connecting rod 90 connecting the crank 88 and the lower end of the lifting support member 32. The crank 88 converts the rotational motion of the rotary drive motor 86 into linear reciprocating motion by the crank mechanism. The support member 32 is moved up and down.

The petri dish transfer device 36 includes a pair of holding arms 92
A holding mechanism 94 (details not shown) for holding the petri dish 18 by narrowing the interval between the pair of holding arms 92, 92 is provided, and the holding mechanism 94 is cantilevered to the holding member 96. A driving mechanism (not shown) for supporting and holding the holding mechanism 96 to reciprocate the gripping mechanism 94 in the vertical direction is provided.

When the petri dish held in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26 is moved by the petri dish transfer device 36, the gripping mechanism 94 is driven by the driving mechanism of the holding member 96 with the pair of holding arms 92, 92 expanded. To the holding arm 9
After inserting the lower ends of 2, 92 into a pair of notches 64, 64 of the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26, respectively, a pair of holding arms 92,
After narrowing the interval of 92 and gripping the main body other than the lid of the petri dish, the gripping mechanism 94 is moved upward. On the other hand, when the petri dish held by the holding arms 92, 92 of the holding mechanism 94 of the petri dish transfer device 36 is accommodated in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26, the holding mechanism 94 is moved downward to The petri dish is inserted into the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26 by inserting the lower ends of the arms 92, 92 into a pair of notches 66, 66 of the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26, and the outer bottom surface of the petri dish is fixed. When the petri dish is supported on the fixed table 30 by contacting the upper surface of the table 30, the distance between the holding arms 92, 92 is increased to detach the petri dish.

The petri dish transfer device 36 on the side of the petri dish supply / dispensing unit 12
The gripping mechanism 94 is provided with a suction pad 98 that vacuum-suctions and holds a cover lid of a petri dish with a lid.

Lower end engaging portion 100 of holding member 96 of petri dish transfer device 36
Is movably connected to a drive mechanism 38 having a linear motor 102, and the petri dish transfer device 36 is
38 reciprocates linearly along the rear end of the table 10. Incidentally, in FIG.
0 ′ indicates the upper surface of the work table 10.

In addition, the petri dish oscillating unit 14 is provided with a petri dish oscillating device 104 for mounting the petri dish and oscillating in a horizontal plane, and the writing and petri dish discharging unit 16 is provided with a surface of a cover lid of the petri dish. A writing device 106 for writing numbers, symbols, and the like is provided.

In the above-mentioned petri dish transfer device, instead of the configuration in which the fixed table 30 is disposed below the rotary table 26,
The thickness of the rotary table is increased, each holding hole into which the petri dish is loosely fitted is defined as a bottomed hole, and the depth of the bottomed retaining hole is set to a dimension corresponding to the height of one petri dish. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which through holes are respectively formed on the bottom surfaces of the holding holes. In this case, the support portion of the lifting support member moves up and down through the through holes in the bottom surfaces of the holding holes of the rotary table.

Next, a series of operations in the automatic agar plate making apparatus will be described.

First, the rotary table 26 is rotated by the rotary drive mechanism 28 to move any one of the three holding holes 62 of the rotary table 26 to the position of the through hole 60 of the fixed table 30 and move up and down. The elevating support member 32 is driven by the drive mechanism 34, and the upper end support portion is inserted into the through hole 78 of the fixed table 30.
Then, the rotary stocker 20 is lifted up through the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26 so that the upper surface of the upper end support portion is at the same height position as the upper surface of the rotary table 26, and then a plurality of petri dishes 18 are stored in a stacked state. Is rotationally driven by the rotational drive mechanism 22. When the rotating stocker 20 rotates,
The petri dish 18 stored in the rotary stocker 20 is rotated while the outer bottom surface of the lowest petri dish engaged and held in each holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 is in sliding contact with the horizontal smooth surface of the guide table 24. I do. The rotary stocker 20 rotates, and the petri dish held in one of the holding holes 62 of the horizontal holding plate 40 is rotated.
18 moves from the guide table 24 to the rotary table 26,
Further, the petri dish 18 is moved from above the rotary table 26 onto the upper end support portion of the lifting support member 32, and
At the point when it is completely moved on 62, the rotating stocker 20 stops. At this point, the lowermost petri dish 18 is supported by the upper end support of the lifting support member 32 at the center position of the outer bottom surface.

When the rotary stocker 20 stops, the elevating and lowering support member 30 descends, and accordingly, the petri dish 18 supported by the upper end supporting portion descends in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26. Then, the elevating support member 32 is lowered until the upper surface of the upper end support portion of the elevating support member 32 is at the same height position as the upper surface of the fixed table 30 or is at a position slightly lower than the upper surface of the fixed table 30. The petri dish 18 is transferred from the upper end support of the lifting support member 32 to the upper surface of the fixed table 30.

When the petri dish 18 is supported on the upper surface of the fixed table 30 and the lowermost petri dish 18 is held in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26, the rotary table 26 is rotationally driven by the rotary drive mechanism 28. With the rotation operation of the turntable 26,
The lowermost petri dish 18 held by the holding hole 62 moves while sliding the outer bottom surface of the lower petri dish 18 against the horizontal smooth surface of the fixed table 30, and the upper surface of the rotary table 26 and the upper surface of the lid of the lowermost petri dish 18 Are in the same horizontal plane, so the Petri dish, which was stored in the rotating stocker 20 and located second from the bottom, slides its outer bottom surface into contact with the top surface of the lid of the lowest Petri dish 18, and then From the top of the petri dish 18 to the turntable 26. And turntable 26
Is further rotated while sliding the horizontal smooth surface of the upper surface thereof on the outer bottom surface of the petri dish which is located second from the bottom, and is rotated by about 120 ° from the original position, so that one of the holding holes 62 At the point when the part slightly passed the position directly above the elevating support member 32,
The rotary table 26 temporarily stops.

When the rotary table 26 stops, the upper end support of the elevating support member 32 moves through the through hole 78 of the fixed table 30 and the rotary table 26.
Through the holding holes 62 of the rotary table 26 so that the upper surface of the upper end support portion is at the same height as the upper surface of the rotary table 26,
Stops when it comes into contact with the outer bottom surface of the lowest petri dish 18 (the petri dish that was initially located second from the bottom). When the lifting support member 32 stops, the rotary table
26 starts to rotate again, and accordingly, the lowermost petri dish 18 is transferred from the top of the rotary table 26 to the upper end support of the lifting support member 32. Then, when the rotary table 26 is rotated by a small angle from the temporarily stopped position and rotated 120 ° from the original position, the turntable 26 stops.

When the rotary table 26 stops, a gripping mechanism 94 of the petri dish transfer device 36 is on standby just above the petri dish held in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26, and the gripping mechanism 94
Is moved downward, and the suction pad 98 provided thereon is brought into contact with the cover lid of the petri dish. After the cover pad of the petri dish is vacuum-adsorbed by the suction pad 98, the gripping mechanism 94 moves upward while holding the cover lid. Then, the petri dish transfer device 36 is linearly moved by the drive mechanism 38 and stops at the position of another holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26. On the other hand, the test solution and the liquid agar are dispensed from the dispensing nozzle of a dilution dispensing device (not shown) to the petri dish from which the cover has been removed. And
While the above operation is performed after the rotation of the rotary table 26, the above-described series of operations, that is, the elevating and lowering support members 32 are lowered, and accordingly, the petri dish is moved to the rotary table 26.
Then, the petri dish is transferred from the upper surface of the upper end support portion of the elevating support member 32 to the upper surface of the fixed table 30.

When the dispensing operation is completed, the turntable 26 rotates again, and the same operation as described above is repeated. When the rotary table 26 is rotated by about 120 °, the rotary table 26 temporarily stops, starts to rotate again, rotates by a small angle, and turns to a position at an angle of 240 ° from the initial position.
Stops, the petri dish into which the chemical solution and the liquid agar have been dispensed is located immediately below the gripping mechanism 94 of the petri dish transfer device 36 that has moved and is waiting. When the petri dish stops at a position directly below the gripping mechanism 94 of the petri dish transfer device 36,
The gripping mechanism 94 is moved down, the cover lid sucked and held by the suction pad 98 is attached to the petri dish main body, and the distance between the pair of holding arms 92, 92 of the gripping mechanism 94 is reduced to remove the main body other than the petri dish cover lid. After gripping the part, the gripping mechanism 94 moves up. Then, the petri dish transfer device 36 is linearly moved by the drive mechanism 38, the petri dish held by the gripping mechanism 94 is moved to the petri dish swinging unit 14, the petri dish is transferred to the petri dish swing device 104, and the suction pad 98 is moved. To release the vacuum suction.

In the petri dish supply / dispensing section 12, the above operation is repeatedly performed.
Each time all the petri dishes stacked at the position of one holding hole 46 of the 20 horizontal holding plates 40 have been supplied, the rotary stocker 20 is rotated by 36 ゜ (360 ゜ ÷ 10), and the next holding hole is rotated. The group of petri dishes stacked at the position 46 is sequentially moved to a position immediately above the lifting support member 32.

On the other hand, the petri dish transferred to the petri dish swing device 104 is swung in a horizontal plane by driving the petri dish swing device 104. Then, when the pour operation of the chemical liquid and the liquid agar is completed, the petri dish is moved by the petri dish transfer device 36 of the writing and petri dish discharging section 16 to the petri dish swinging section 14.
Is transferred to one of the holding holes 62 of the rotary table 26 of the writing / dish discharging section 16. Subsequently, the rotary table 26 is rotated and moved by an intermittent operation as described later, and the writing device 106 disposed at a position at an angle of 120 ° from the original loading position.
By moving the petri dish with a lid directly below the plate, and driving the writing device 106, the surface of the cover lid of the petri dish indicates the type of the test agent and its dilution ratio, etc. Marking symbols etc.

After the marking on the cover of the petri dish is completed, the operation of storing the petri dish in the rotary stocker 20 is performed, but some petri dishes are already located at the positions of the holding holes 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotary stocker 20. Next, the operation of storing the petri dish in that case will be described.

First, the upper end support of the lifting support member 32 is fixed to the fixed table 30.
Through the through hole 78, and the upper surface of the upper end support portion of the lifting support member 32 is held by the holding hole of the horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotary stocker 20.
After contacting with the outer bottom surface of the lowermost petri dish held in 46 and supported on the upper surface of the fixed table 30, the elevating support member 32 is further raised, so that the petri dish is moved up and down from the fixed table 30. Is transferred onto the upper end support of the. Then, the petri dish is raised by being supported by the upper end support portion of the elevating support member 32, inserted into the holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotary stocker 20, and the outer bottom surface thereof is rotated by the rotary table 26.
When it reaches the same height as the upper surface of the
Stops.

When the lifting / lowering support member 32 stops, the rotary table 26 rotates and rotates by a slight angle, and a part of the petri dish held in the holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotary stocker 20 is partially moved to the upper surface of the rotary table 26. Supported on the rotating table 26
Immediately before the inner peripheral surface of the holding hole 62 contacts the upper end support portion of the elevating support member 32 at the ascending position, the turntable 26 temporarily stops. Subsequently, the upper end support of the elevating support member 32 descends, and the petri dish is transferred onto the rotary table 26 from above the upper end support of the elevating support member 32.

When the upper end support portion of the lifting support member 32 has been lowered, the rotary table 26 starts to rotate again, and the petri dish held in the holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotary stocker 20 has its outer bottom surface rotated by the rotary table 26. While staying in sliding contact with the horizontal smooth surface. When the rotary table 26 is further rotated, marking is completed, and the petri dish held in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26 slides the outer bottom surface of the rotary stocker 20 into contact with the horizontal smooth surface of the fixed table 30.
To the position of the holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40. Then, the petri dish held in the holding hole 62 of the rotary table 26 slides the upper surface of the lid against the outer bottom surface of the lowermost petri dish stored earlier in the rotary stocker 20, while the petri dish of the lowermost petri dish is Go down. When the rotary table 26 is rotated from the marking position to an angle position of 120 ° and the petri dish held in the holding hole 62 completely overlaps with the petri dish stored first in the rotary stocker 20, the rotary table 26 is moved. Stop.

As described above, the petri dishes are sequentially stacked one by one from below on the holding member of the rotary stocker 20 and stored, but in the process, the position of the holding hole 46 of the horizontal holding plate 40 of the rotary stocker 20 is changed by the petri dish. When full, the rotary stocker 20 is rotated by 36 °, and the next empty holding hole 46 is sequentially moved to a position immediately above the elevating support member 32.

Thus, a series of petri dish transfer operations is completed, and thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated.

Although the petri dish transfer device of the present invention has the above-described configuration, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the above description and the contents of the drawings, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist. May be included. For example, the shape of the horizontal support plate of the rotary stocker does not need to be circular, and may be a regular polygon or the like, and the holding hole formed in the horizontal support plate is circular as in the above embodiment. Part of the circumference may not be a shape that is opened outward, but may be formed as a complete circular hole. Further, the number of holding holes formed in the rotary table is three, and the work efficiency is improved. However, the number may be two.

In addition, this petri dish transfer device is used for preparing a drug-containing medium in an agar plate dilution method for a chemotherapeutic agent susceptibility test and for preparing a pour plate medium in a pour plate culture method, which is one of viable cell count methods. It is most effectively used, but of course it can be widely used in other processes requiring the same petri dish transfer operation.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention is configured and operates as described above, if the petri dish transfer device according to the present invention is used,
In laboratories and clinical test centers of pharmaceutical companies that need to prepare a large amount of drug-containing medium at one time, it is cumbersome to manually supply and discharge a series of petri dishes and to stack petri dishes. Can be eliminated. The present invention can greatly contribute to, for example, a case in which a whole series of inspection work by the agar plate dilution method is to be automated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an overall perspective view of an automatic agar plate making apparatus provided with a pair of petri dish transfer devices, FIG. 2 is its plan view, FIG. 3 is its front view, and FIG. 4 is the IV-IV arrow of FIG. FIG. 12 Petri dish supply / dispensing part, 16 Petri dish writing / discharge part, 18 Petri dish, 20 Rotary stocker, 22 Rotary drive mechanism, 24 Guide table, 26 Rotary table, 28 …… Rotary drive mechanism, 30 …… Fixed table, 32 …… Elevation support member, 34 …… Elevation drive mechanism, 36 …… Dish transfer apparatus, 38… Driving mechanism of Petri dish transfer apparatus, 40… Horizontal holding Plate, 42 Vertical rod, 44 Upper horizontal plate, 46 Retaining hole, 60 Cutout arc, 62 Retaining hole, 78 Through hole, 92 Retaining arm, 96 Grip mechanism, 98 ... Suction pad.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hirokatsu Ohara 8 Kamiashitana, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto Pref. Dainippon Seiki Co., Ltd. (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) C12M 1/00 G01N 35/04 B65G 60/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of holding holes into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely fitted are formed in the circumferential direction at equal intervals, and the holding holes are rotatably supported in a horizontal plane. A rotary stocker having a holding member for holding a plurality of Petri dishes in a stacked state at the positions of the holes, a rotation driving means for rotating the rotary stocker, and a horizontal holding plate of the rotary stocker below and parallel to a horizontal holding plate. A guide table having a horizontal smooth surface with which the outer bottom surface of a lowermost petri dish housed in the rotating stocker is arranged and slidably contacted with the rotating operation of the rotating stocker, and a part of the periphery is cut off in an arc shape, The planar shape is circular, the upper surface is a horizontal smooth surface, and the horizontal smooth surface is flush with the horizontal smooth surface of the guide table, and a part of the circumference is formed in the arc-shaped cut portion of the guide table. At least two holding holes are provided so that the side faces are adjacent to each other, and are rotatably supported in a horizontal plane, and at least two holding holes into which a petri dish in a horizontal posture is loosely fitted. A rotary table formed at a position overlapping with each holding hole of the rotary table, a rotary drive unit for rotating the rotary table, and disposed below and in parallel with the rotary table. An outer bottom surface of the petri dish held in the holding hole has a horizontal smooth surface in sliding contact,
The distance between the horizontal smooth surface and the horizontal smooth surface forming the upper surface of the rotary table has a dimension corresponding to the height of one petri dish, and a through hole is formed at a position corresponding to the arc-shaped cutout of the guide table. A fixed table, a lifting and lowering support member having a support portion that moves up and down through the through-hole of the fixed table, a driving unit for reciprocatingly driving the lifting and lowering member, and an arc-shaped cutout of the guide table of the rotary table. Provided with a gripping mechanism for gripping a petri dish held in a holding hole moved to a position other than the position corresponding to the petri dish transfer means supported reciprocally between a rotary table area and an external area thereof, A petri dish transfer device comprising a driving means for reciprocating the petri dish transfer means. 2. A plurality of holding holes into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely fitted are formed in the circumferential direction at equal intervals, and the holding holes are rotatably supported in a horizontal plane. A rotary stocker having a holding member for holding a plurality of Petri dishes in a stacked state at the positions of the holes, a rotation driving means for rotating the rotary stocker, and a horizontal holding plate of the rotary stocker below and parallel to a horizontal holding plate. A guide table having a horizontal smooth surface with which the outer bottom surface of a lowermost petri dish housed in the rotating stocker is arranged and slidably contacted with the rotating operation of the rotating stocker, and a part of the periphery is cut off in an arc shape, The planar shape is circular, the upper surface is a horizontal smooth surface, and the horizontal smooth surface is flush with the horizontal smooth surface of the guide table, and a part of the circumference is formed in the arc-shaped cut portion of the guide table. At least two bottomed holding holes into which a petri dish in a horizontal position is loosely supported while being rotatably supported in a horizontal plane while being disposed so that the side faces are adjacent to each other, and It is formed at a position that overlaps with each holding hole of the horizontal holding plate,
A rotary table having a depth corresponding to the height of one petri dish, and a through-hole formed in the bottom surface of the rotary table; a rotary drive unit configured to rotate the rotary table; An elevating and lowering support member, which is provided at a position corresponding to the arc-shaped cutout of the guide table and has a support portion that moves up and down through the through holes on the bottom surfaces of the holding holes of the rotary table, and reciprocates the elevating and lowering member Driving means for driving, comprising a gripping mechanism for gripping a petri dish held in a holding hole moved to a position other than a position corresponding to the arc-shaped cutout portion of the guide table of the rotary table,
A petri dish transfer device comprising: a petri dish transfer means supported reciprocally movable between an area of a rotary table and an external area thereof; and a driving means for reciprocating the petri dish transfer means. 3. The petri dish transfer device according to claim 1, wherein three holding holes are formed in the rotary table so as to be equally arranged in a circumferential direction. 4. A petri dish holding mechanism of a petri dish transfer means,
The petri dish transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a suction pad for holding the cover of the petri dish with a lid by vacuum suction.