JP3341591B2 - Cartridge supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cartridge used in an immunoassay device and the like, and more particularly, to a cartridge in which at least two wells having different depths are provided asymmetrically in parallel and arranged in a predetermined direction. The present invention relates to a cartridge supply device for causing the cartridge to be supplied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, containers such as test tubes and microplates have been used for immunoassay devices. However, an automatic immunoassay device capable of automating immunoassay has been developed (JP-A-5-40122). Publication), cartridge having at least two wells so that all operations such as dilution, mixing, reaction, B / F separation (operation for removing unreacted free substance from immune complex and separation) and measurement in a container can be performed. Was developed. This cartridge is shown in FIGS.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
A shallow type first dispensing well 3 and a second dispensing well 4 for accommodating a measurement reagent and the like and performing dilution and the like, and a tip adjacent to the first dispensing well 3 and having a tip thereof such as an absorbance meter. An insertable deep measurement well 2 is formed in parallel.

In order to arrange the cartridge 1 having the wells having different depths asymmetrically upward as described above, the cartridge 1 is latched upward on both sides of the upper end surface 1a. A handle 5 is provided. On the other hand, the upper end surface 1a of the cartridge 1 is formed of a flat surface on which the cartridge 1 can be placed so that the cartridge 1 can be arranged downward.

In the above-mentioned automatic immunoassay apparatus using the cartridge 1 configured as described above, at the start of measurement, first, a cartridge tray in which a plurality of the cartridges 1 are arranged in a predetermined direction is set in the automatic immunoassay apparatus.

When the measurement is started, the cartridge 1 is lifted up from the cartridge tray by using the handle 5 by the lift mechanism and transferred to the reaction line. While the cartridge 1 transferred to the reaction line advances on the reaction line, a predetermined measurement reagent or sample is injected into a predetermined well, and a series of immunoassay operations are automatically performed.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned automatic immunoassay apparatus, a series of operations after the installation of the cartridge tray is automatically executed. The work of installing the device is performed manually, and the entire operation process cannot be fully automated.

Further, the work of aligning and arranging the cartridges on the cartridge tray requires that the asymmetrical cartridges be aligned in a predetermined direction, and this work requires a great deal of labor and time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge supply device for automatically arranging and transferring cartridges.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a cartridge supply device according to the present invention is provided with a cut-out storage section for storing the cartridge, and a state in which the cartridge is stored in the storage section. The rotary drum is configured to rotate and transfer from the storage position to the discharge position, and a detection sensor that detects the arrangement of the cartridge stored in the storage unit at the storage position.

According to the above arrangement, the cartridge is stored in the storage portion of the rotary drum at the storage position, and when the detection sensor detects that the cartridge is not arranged irregularly in the storage chamber, the rotary drum rotates and the cartridge is rotated. It is located at the discharge position. The cartridge disposed at the discharge position is discharged from the storage section of the rotating drum in an aligned state.

In the above description, the detection sensor may be of any type as long as it can detect the irregular arrangement of the cartridge, but it is preferable to use an optical sensor. Further, the installation position of the detection sensor is also a position where the irregular arrangement of the cartridge can be detected, for example, the detection sensor is installed in the storage section of the rotating drum. Alternatively, in addition to being installed in the storage section of the rotary drum, the cartridge may be provided at a position separated from the rotary drum as long as it can detect the irregular arrangement of the cartridge.

Preferably, the detection direction of the cartridge is detected by the detection sensor based on the asymmetric shape of the well of the cartridge. Specifically, since the cartridge is provided with at least two wells having different depths asymmetrically in parallel, for example, a detection sensor is provided to face the bottom side surface of the deep well, Detect that the mold wells are correctly positioned. Alternatively, the detection sensor is installed at a position slightly away from the bottom of the shallow well, the cartridge is irregularly arranged, and the irregular arrangement is detected when the bottom of the deep well faces the detection sensor. You can also.

In the above-described cartridge supply device of the present invention, the storage position where the cartridge is stored in the rotary drum and the discharge position where the cartridge is discharged from the rotary drum are in a positional relationship in which the rotary drum is rotated by 180 degrees. It held in the holding section of the rotary drum as the mounting surface top end surface.

That is, the cartridge stored in the storage position with the upper end face as the mounting surface has the wells arranged downward, whereas the cartridge rotationally transferred to the discharge position is arranged upward. Therefore, the cartridge discharged at the discharge position is arranged in an upward direction so that the measurement reagent or the like can be stored in the well.

In the cartridge supply device of the present invention,
Preferably, when the detection sensor detects that the cartridge is not irregularly arranged, the rotating drum is configured to rotate to the disposal position.

With the above-described configuration, the rotating drum rotates the cartridge to the discharge position only when the cartridge accommodated in the accommodating section is arranged in the correct direction, and when the cartridge is arranged in the opposite direction, the cartridge is arranged in the opposite direction. The cartridge is rotated to the discard position, and the cartridge is discarded from the storage section.
Therefore, since only those arranged in a certain direction are accurately sent to the discharge position, the cartridges can be reliably arranged and arranged.

The discarding position is preferably located at a position where the accommodating portion of the rotating drum is disposed downward.
According to this configuration, the cartridge can be dropped and removed from the storage section of the rotating drum at the disposal position.

In the cartridge supply device of the present invention,
It is preferable to provide a drum cover that covers the rotating drum and has a storage opening, a discharge opening, and a waste opening at the storage position, the discharge position, and the disposal position, respectively.
By providing the drum cover, the cartridge accommodated in the accommodating portion of the rotary drum can be transferred to a predetermined position while being stably held.

Further, in the cartridge supply device of the present invention, it is preferable that a rotation position detection sensor for detecting a rotation position of the rotary drum is provided. The rotation position detection sensor functions as a rotation control mechanism for the rotation drum, such as detecting a stop position of the rotation drum and determining a rotation direction of the rotation drum from the stop position.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same components as those of the above-described conventional technology are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In the cartridge supply device 10 of the present invention, a storage transfer path 12 for transferring a cartridge to a storage position at one end of the center horizontal position of the rotary drum 16 and a discharge transfer path 26 at a discharge position at the other end are provided. ing.

First, FIG. 3 shows a mechanism for transferring the cartridge 1 from the storage transfer path 12 to the rotary drum 16. In FIG. 3, a storage transfer path 12 for transferring the cartridge 1 to the storage position of the rotary drum 16 is mounted and transferred in a line in the longitudinal direction with the upper end surface 1a of the cartridge 1 as a mounting surface. Various mechanisms can be used as this transfer mechanism,
Here, vibration of an amplitude having a predetermined frequency is applied to the storage transfer path 12 in a direction parallel to the mounting surface described above, and the cartridge 1 is transferred to the rotating drum 16. In order to prevent the cartridge 1 from dropping from the storage transfer path 12 due to the vibration applied thereto, a transfer path cover 1 covering the storage transfer path 12 is provided on the storage transfer path 12.
4 are integrally formed.

The rotary drum 16 is held inside a drum cover 20 fixed to a substrate 18, and is rotatably connected to a motor shaft 24 having a drive unit 22 described later at one end. The drum cover 20 will be described later in detail.

As described above, the rotating drum 16 has
A cut-out storage section 17 is provided to store the cartridge 1 fed from the storage transfer path 12 as a single unit. A concave portion 17a into which the handle 5 of the cartridge 1 can be inserted is formed in a lower portion of the storage portion 17 to lock the cartridge 1.

In the recess 17a of the housing 17,
A storage detection sensor 40 composed of an optical sensor is provided. The storage detection sensor 40 detects completion of feeding of the cartridge 1 by receiving light reflected by contact of the sensor light with the handle 5 of the stored cartridge 1. I do. Here, when the storage detection sensor 40 detects the completion of feeding of the cartridge 1, the motor shaft 24 is
Is started to rotate the rotary drum 16 upward. By this rotation, the storage section 17 is transferred to a discharge position described later.

As shown in FIG. 5, an irregularly arranged detection sensor 42 comprising an optical sensor is provided on the side wall of the storage section 17, and a sensor is provided at the bottom of the measuring well 2 when the cartridge 1 is irregularly arranged. When light comes in contact,
An irregular arrangement of the cartridge 1 is detected. When the detection of the irregular arrangement by the irregular arrangement detection sensor 42 and the feed detection by the storage detection sensor 40 are performed simultaneously, the motor shaft 24 rotates reversely via the drive unit 22 and the rotating drum 16 rotates downward. Then, the storage unit 17 is transferred to a disposal position described later.

That is, the rotation direction of the motor shaft 24 is determined by the storage detection sensor 40 and the irregular arrangement detection sensor 42, and the rotating drum 16 rotates upward or downward. As described above, the drum cover 20 is provided on the rotating drum 16. The drum cover 20 has three openings. Specifically, the storage opening 20
a is provided at a storage position facing the end point of the storage and transfer path 12, and a discharge opening 20c is provided in the storage and transfer path 2 to be described later.
The waste opening 20b is provided at a discharge position opposite to the starting point of No. 6, and is provided below the rotating drum 16, specifically, facing a waste port (not shown) of the substrate 18.

The storage position and the discharge position are preferably provided at positions symmetrical by 180 degrees in relation to reversing the direction of the cartridge 1. In the present embodiment, the storage position and the discharge position are as shown in the drawing. Are provided at horizontal positions across the rotary drum, and the storage opening 2
0a and the discharge opening 20c are provided at corresponding positions.

Therefore, the cartridge 1 transferred by the storage transfer path 12 is fed into the storage section 17 of the rotating drum 16 through the storage opening 20a. The cartridge 1 sent in here has a 180 degree pair depending on its arrangement .
It is transported to a common discharge position and discharged from the storage section 17 through the discharge opening 20c, or transferred to a lower disposal position and dropped and removed from the storage section 17 through the waste opening 20b.

In order to detect the rotation position of the storage section 17 of the rotary drum 16 as described above, the drum cover 20 has a rotation detection plate 44 and a discharge position detection sensor engaged with the rotation detection plate 44. 46 and disposal position detection sensor 4
8 are provided.

The rotation detecting board 44 is provided with the motor shaft 24.
, And rotates in conjunction with the motor shaft 24. The rotation detection board 44 has at least one slit for passing the sensor light of the discharge position detection sensor 46 and the disposal position detection sensor 48.

The discharge position detecting sensor 46 is activated by the rotation of the motor shaft 24 in the forward direction.
Upon detecting that the storage section 17 of the rotary drum 16 has reached the discharge position opposite to the storage position, the control section controls the drive section 22 and controls the rotation drum 1 via the motor shaft 24.
Stop rotation of 6.

More specifically, the discharge position detection sensor 46
As shown in FIG. 5, each of them is constituted by a pair, and these are installed at specific positions on the rotation detection board 44. More specifically, each of the discharge position detection sensors 46 has a rear end fixed to the drum cover 20, and a detection section 46 a at the front end engaged with the rotation detection board 44.

The detecting section 46a comprises, for example, a bifurcated detecting section composed of a light emitting section for emitting sensor light, and a light receiving section for receiving the sensor light. Are engaged so as to sandwich them.
As a result, when position detection is performed by these discharge position detection sensors 46, the detection unit 46a of one of the discharge position detection sensors 46 faces the slit of the rotation detection plate 44, and the sensor light is received. At this point, the rotation of the motor shaft 24 is controlled via the drive unit 22.

Further, similarly to the discharge position detection sensor 46, the discard position detection sensor 48 has a rear end fixed to the drum cover 20 and a detection portion 48a at the front end is provided on the rotation detection plate 44 with the pair of rotation detection plates 48a. The discharge position detection sensor 46 is engaged.

The discard position detecting sensor 48 is activated by the rotation of the motor shaft 24 in the reverse direction, and the storage portion 17 of the rotating drum 16 rotates in the reverse direction from the storage position to reach the discard position. In response to this, the controller controls the drive unit 22 to stop the rotation of the rotary drum 16 via the motor shaft 24.

More specifically, the detecting section 48a of the discard position detecting sensor 48 has the same configuration as that of the discharge position detecting sensor 46. Therefore, the detection unit 48a faces the slit on the rotation detection board 44 and receives the sensor light to detect that the storage unit 17 of the rotary drum 16 has reached the disposal position from the storage position. , The driving unit 22 is controlled.

The operation of the cartridge supply device 10 will be described below.

In the storage transfer path 12, the cartridge 1 is rotated by applying an amplitude vibration having a predetermined frequency to the mounting surface in an obliquely forward direction with the upper surface of the cartridge 1 placed on the mounting surface. It is transported in the direction of the drum 16.
Here, the transferred cartridge 1 is a drum cover 2
The storage opening 17a of the rotary drum 16 disposed at the storage position is fed from the storage opening 20a.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, when the cartridge 1 is fed into the storage section 17 in the normal arrangement, the storage detection sensor 40 detects this, and the illegal arrangement detection sensor 42 By not detecting the improper arrangement, the motor shaft 24 is rotated in the forward direction via the drive unit 22. The rotation of the motor shaft 24 causes the rotating drum 16 to rotate upward. On the other hand, when the discharge position detection sensor 46 is operated in accordance with the rotation of the motor shaft 24 in the forward direction, and when it is detected that the storage section 17 has reached the discharge position rotated by 180 degrees, the drive section 22 is controlled to rotate. The drum 16 is stopped.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the accommodating portion 17 of the rotary drum 16 is disposed to face the discharge opening 20c of the drum cover 20. Then, the cartridge 1 stored downward at the storage position is arranged upward at the discharge position.

Here, when the cartridge 1 arranged upward is taken out of the storage section 17 by a take-out mechanism described later, the rotary drum 16 rotates and the storage section 1 is rotated.
7 is placed in the original storage position.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When the cartridge 1 is fed into the storage unit 17 in an irregular arrangement, the cartridge 1 is simultaneously detected by the storage detection sensor 40 and the irregular arrangement detection sensor 42, and the driving unit 22 is driven in reverse, and the motor The rotating drum 16 starts rotating downward through the shaft 24.

At the same time as the rotation of the rotary drum 16 in the reverse direction is started, the discard position detecting sensor 48 is activated, and the storage section 17 of the rotary drum 16 reaches the discard position where it is rotated 90 degrees in the reverse direction from the storage position. When it detects that
The drive unit 22 is controlled, and the rotary drum 16 stops via the motor shaft 24.

Here, the storage portion 17 of the stopped rotating drum 16 faces the disposal opening 20b of the drum cover 20, as shown in FIG. 6, so that the cartridge 1 in the storage portion 17 is It falls from 20b, passes through the passage opening of the base 18 provided opposite thereto, and is removed from the storage part 17.

Therefore, the rotary drum 1 is
As for the cartridge 1 sent to the storage section 17 of the sixth cartridge, only the cartridge 1 arranged in the forward direction is selected, inverted to the discharge position, and arranged upward.

Next, as described above, the rotating drum 16
A preferred configuration for removing the cartridge 1 transferred to the discharge position will be described with reference to FIGS.

The discharge transfer path 26 has one end adjacent to the discharge opening 20c of the drum cover 20, and the other end connected to a reaction line or the like of a measuring device (not shown). The discharge transfer path 26 is composed of a pair of guide rails 26a capable of placing and supporting the handle 5 of the cartridge 1,
Further, a transport belt is provided for transferring the supported cartridge 1 to a reaction line or the like at the other end.

A take-out arm 28 for taking out the cartridge 1 from the storage section 17 disposed at the discharge position to the discharge transfer path 26 has a slide surface 28a at the tip end thereof.
Is a discharge opening 20c at a discharge position of the drum cover 20.
The rotary drum 16 is provided so as to engage with the rear side surface of the cartridge 1.

On the other hand, the rear end of the take-out arm 28 is connected to the side edge of the rotary disk 32 at the tip of the drive shaft 30 having the rotary motor 30a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, the rotation of the turntable 32 causes the slide surface 28 a of the take-out arm 28 to move to the discharge opening 2 of the drum cover 20.
The cartridge 1 slides back and forth between Oc and the discharge transfer path 26, and the cartridge 1 is taken out from the storage section 17 to the discharge transfer path 26. When the turntable 32 is further rotated, it slides backward from the slide surface 28a, and the slide surface 28a is
Returned to 0c.

Hereinafter, the operation of the take-out mechanism configured as described above will be described.

As described above, the slide surface 28a of the take-out arm 28 is engaged with the back surface of the cartridge 1 arranged upward in a certain direction by the rotating drum 16. In this state, when the turntable 32 makes a half turn via the drive shaft 30,
The slide surface 28a at the tip of the take-out arm 28, the rear end of which is connected to the turntable 32, first passes through the discharge opening 20c of the drum cover 20 in the horizontal direction in the forward direction.
Slide to 6. Accordingly, the slide surface 28
The cartridge 1 that engages with the a also slides upward from the storage section 17 of the rotary drum 16 to the discharge transfer path 26.

The removed cartridge 1 is placed on the discharge transfer path 26 with the handle 5 and transferred to a reaction line such as a measuring device in an aligned state by the transfer belt of the discharge transfer path 26.

On the other hand, the cartridge 1 is transferred to the discharge transfer path 2
The sliding arm 28 that has been slid to
Is further rotated by half, so that the slide surface 28a
Is returned to the original discharge opening 20c for the next removal.

According to the cartridge supply device 10 configured as described above, the asymmetric cartridge 1 having the wells having different bottom portions is automatically aligned upward and transferred to a reaction line such as a measuring device. be able to.

In particular, the cartridge supply device 10 includes:
Irregular arrangement detection sensor 42 in storage section 17 of rotating drum 16
The cartridge 1 disposed at the discharge position is arranged upward in a certain direction in order to detect the irregularly arranged cartridge 1 sent from the storage transfer path 12 and selectively remove the cartridge 1 from the storage section 17. be able to. As a result, the cartridges 1 taken out to the discharge transfer path 26 can be reliably aligned in a predetermined direction.

The cartridge 1 is not limited to the arrangement of the cartridges 1, and can be applied to the case where another container or the like having a shape in which the bottom cannot be placed is arranged upward. Of course, in this case, the storage detection sensor 40, the irregular arrangement detection sensor 42, and the like can be changed to an appropriate position corresponding to the container or the like.

[0059]

According to the cartridge supply device of the present invention, the arrangement direction of the stored cartridges is checked at the storage position, and only the correctly stored cartridges are transferred to the discharge position in reverse. On the other hand, the irregularly arranged cartridge stored in the storage position is transferred to the disposal position and discarded. As a result, the cartridges arranged and arranged in a certain direction from the discharge position are sent out.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to arrange a cartridge having an asymmetric shape in the cartridge tray as in the related art, and the work efficiency can be streamlined through improvement of work efficiency.

[0061] Further, by mounting the cartridge feeder apparatus according to the present invention in an automatic immunoassay apparatus, to achieve an automated immunoassay apparatus that fully automates the entire operation process from aligning process cartridge to the final measuring step It becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a side cutaway view showing a mechanism for feeding a cartridge to a rotating drum of the cartridge supply device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a reversal transfer of the cartridge in the rotary drum according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an irregular arrangement of a cartridge fed to the rotary drum according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing that the rotary drum according to the embodiment of the present invention rotates downward and discards a cartridge that has been sent in an irregular arrangement at a discard position.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a take-out mechanism for taking out a cartridge rotatably transferred to a discharge position in the rotary drum according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a view showing that in the rotary drum according to the present embodiment, the cartridge rotationally transferred to the discharge position is taken out to the discharge transfer path by the take-out mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cartridge, 2 measurement wells, 3 and 4 dispensing wells, 10 cartridge supply device, 12 storage transfer path,
16 rotating drum, 17 storage section, 20a storage opening, 20b waste opening, 20c discharge opening, 26
Discharge transfer path, 40 storage detection sensor, 42 irregular arrangement detection sensor, 46 discharge position detection sensor, 48 disposal position detection sensor.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihisa Furuyashiki 2-7-1, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Fuji Rebio Co., Ltd. 56) References Japanese Utility Model 62-203117 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 47/22-47/32 B65G 47/84-47/86

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for reversing and transporting a cartridge in which an upper end surface is formed of a flat surface and at least two wells having different depths are provided asymmetrically in parallel, wherein the upper end surface is downwardly moved. A cut-out storage portion for receiving the cartridge in a state of being mounted thereon and storing the cartridge with its upper end face down, from the storage position to the discharge position with the cartridge stored in the storage portion. A rotating drum that rotates by 180 degrees, transports the cartridge, and turns the cartridge upside down at the discharge position, and stores the cartridge in the storage portion at the storage position based on the shape of the well of the cartridge And a detection sensor for detecting whether or not the set cartridge is irregularly arranged. 2. The cartridge supply device according to claim 1, wherein when the detection sensor detects an irregular arrangement of the cartridge, the rotating drum rotates in a direction opposite to a case where the rotating drum is correctly arranged, and the cartridge is rotated. A cartridge supply device that transfers to the disposal position. 3. The cartridge supply device according to claim 2, wherein the storage position and the discharge position are located in the same horizontal plane, the disposal position is located lower than the horizontal plane, and the storage unit of the rotary drum is And a cartridge supply device capable of dropping and removing a cartridge stored in the disposal position. 4. The cartridge supply device according to claim 2, wherein the storage drum covers the rotary drum, and has a storage opening, a discharge opening, and a waste opening at the storage position, the discharge position, and the disposal position, respectively. Cartridge supply device provided with a modified drum cover. 5. The cartridge supply device according to claim 1, further comprising: a rotation position detection sensor for detecting a rotation position of the rotary drum.