JP3452463B2 - Sample dilution / mixing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used for a test for the number of viable bacteria in foods, pharmaceuticals or care products, an antiseptic test and the like. The present invention relates to a sample diluting / stirring apparatus for diluting and stirring a sample. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when determining the quality of a specimen, when the number of viable bacteria in the specimen is counted, the specimen is diluted with a solid sample or a liquid sample, mixed with an agar medium, cultured, and cultured. We are counting numbers. That is, the measurement of the number of bacteria is performed on the same sample at different magnifications (10 times, 100 times, 1000 times or more)
The number of bacteria in the original sample is calculated from the measurement result of the diluted sample which is easily measured. Conventionally, the work of diluting and agitating a sample has been performed manually according to a known operation method defined by the Sanitary Test Method, the Japanese Pharmacopoeia, etc., while paying close attention to prevent the contamination of bacteria. I was That is, when diluting a specimen, a predetermined amount (for example, 9 ml) of dilution water is diluted into a test tube containing a fixed amount (for example, usually 1 ml or 1 g) of the specimen.
aliquot to make 10 times). Then, the test tube is brought into contact with a mixing device including a vibrator or the like, or a stirrer is put in the test tube to uniformly mix the specimen and the dilution water. When it is desired to obtain a dilution factor of 100 times, 1000 times or the like, 1 ml of a 10-fold diluted sample is dispensed into an empty test tube, 9 ml of a diluent is dispensed, and the mixture is stirred.
Obtain a sample diluted 0 times. Further, 9 ml of a diluent is added to 1 ml of the obtained sample to obtain a sample diluted 1000 times. Hereinafter, the same operation is sequentially repeated to obtain a sample diluted to a desired magnification. [0005] In connection with the work of diluting and stirring the sample,
It is necessary to remove the cap of the test tube.At this time, the worker disinfects his / her hands with alcohol, etc., and performs a flame sterilization process on the mouth of the test tube to prevent bacteria from entering the test tube. I have. Thus, the work of diluting and stirring the sample
During the operation, the treatment must be carried out so that there is no contamination of bacteria even after the operation, and depending on the type of bacteria, the worker needs to pay sufficient attention to the risk of contamination. In addition, when mixing a sample in a test tube with dilution water, especially when processing a large number of samples, it may be difficult to perform an accurate dilution operation or uniform agitation due to individual differences among workers. . [0006] Therefore, a series of steps are completed without human beings, which are the main cause of bacterial contamination, in each step so that bacteria are not mixed, and accurate dilution operation and uniform and good stirring are performed. For this purpose, attempts have been made to automate the work of diluting and stirring the sample. [0007] In order to automate the above-mentioned sample diluting and stirring operations, the sample in the test tube and the dilution water must be uniformly mixed. As such an automatic stirring device, there is a dispensing dilution device called Megaflex manufactured by TECAN, which can perform mixing by bubbling, but cannot be used for highly viscous samples (eg, toothpaste, cream, etc.). There was a problem. In addition, when stirring a sample that easily foams such as a hair / skin cleansing agent and the dilution water, the sample and the dilution water foam and cannot be mixed. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to provide a good specimen dilution / stirring apparatus capable of uniformly mixing a specimen in a test tube and dilution water even for a specimen having a high viscosity. It is to be. [0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a sample diluting / stirring apparatus provided with a stirring means for stirring a sample in a test tube and dilution water, wherein the stirring means comprises: Vibrating means for abutting against the bottom of the test tube to make a predetermined plane circular motion; and head holding means for holding the test tube in the longitudinal direction between the vibrating means by contacting the head of the test tube. An elastic means for adjusting the distance between the vibrating means and the head holding means by appropriately deforming elastically in accordance with the longitudinal dimension of the test tube held between the vibrating means and the head holding means. Sample dilution and
This is achieved by a stirring device. According to the above construction, the bottom of the test tube is caused to move in a plane circular motion while being held in the longitudinal direction by the vibrating means and the head holding means, so that the test tube pivots with the head as a fulcrum. . Therefore, a high-speed rotational force can be applied to the sample and the dilution water in the test tube, and the sample and the dilution water can be reliably stirred. On this occasion,
Since the elastic means can be elastically deformed appropriately according to the longitudinal dimension of the test tube, the interval between the vibrating means and the head holding means can be automatically adjusted to absorb the dimensional error in the longitudinal direction of each test tube. . Hereinafter, a diluting / stirring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a stirring means of a sample dilution / stirring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state where the stirring means shown in FIG. 1 holds a test tube. . 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a vibration shaft of the stirring means and its driving mechanism shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a plan view of a position regulating arm of the stirring means shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a test tube rack used in the dilution / stirring apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a bottom of the test tube rack shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a cap attaching / detaching mechanism used in the dilution / stirring apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a cap holding arm of the cap attaching / detaching mechanism shown in FIG. The sample diluting / stirring apparatus according to the present embodiment dispenses a sample and dilution water into a test tube 11 set in a test tube rack 10 as shown in FIG. . At the time of dispensing the sample and the dilution water, the cap 12 of the test tube 11 is detached by a cap detachment mechanism 50 described later. The test tube 11 into which the sample and the dilution water have been dispensed is transported together with the test tube rack 10 to a stirring unit 20 by a rack transport mechanism (not shown), and the sample and the dilution water are mixed by the stirring unit 20. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the agitating means 20 comprises a vibrating shaft 21 serving as a vibrating means and a head holding member 22 serving as a head holding means.
The test tube 1 is held by the vibrating shaft 21 with the
By giving a predetermined stirring operation to 1, the sample dispensed into the test tube 11 and the dilution water are mixed. The vibrating shaft 21 is projected upward from the bottom through hole 14 of the test tube rack 10 through the through hole 29 of the test tube rack transport path 13 with the operation of the cylinder 21a,
The test tube 11 is held via a pressing rubber 23 provided at the upper end.
And the test tube 11 can be pushed up. The test tube 1 is located substantially at the center of the upper surface of the pressing rubber 23.
A concave portion 15 for loosely fitting the bottom portion 1 is formed. As shown in FIG. 3, the vibration shaft 21 is placed on the vibration table 24 at a predetermined interval corresponding to the interval between the two rows of test tubes 11 in the test tube rack 10.
It is standing upright. The vibration table 24 includes a support plate 25 fixed to a base plate 27 via a support 26.
It is supported by. A substantially horizontal spring member 28 is connected to substantially the center of the column 26, and the horizontal movement of each column 26 is regulated by the spring member 28 within a predetermined range. In the base plate 27 to which the column 26 is fixed, a tip end (upper end in FIG. 3) of the shaft 30 is inserted into a through hole formed substantially in the center via a bearing 31 so as to be relatively rotatable. I have. Base end of shaft 30 (lower end in FIG. 3)
Is fixed to the upper surface of the eccentric rotary plate 32. Eccentric rotating plate 3
2 is eccentrically fixed to the rotating shaft 34 of the motor 33 in a predetermined amount, rotates eccentrically with the rotation of the motor 33, and makes the base plate 27 circularly move in a horizontal plane via the shaft 30. With the circular motion of the base plate 27, the support plate 25 and the vibration table 24 make a circular motion in a horizontal plane. As a result, the vibration shaft 21 makes a predetermined plane circular motion. As shown in FIG. 2, the head pressing member 22 is provided with a cap knob 16 of the cap 12 in a guide hole 35.
Is loosely fitted to hold the test tube 11 between the vibrating shaft 21 and the pressing rubber 23. That is, the head holding member 22 is attached to the distal end of the mounting plate 36 via the elastic member 37, and the mounting plate 36 is attached to the cylinder rod (not shown) of the horizontal cylinder 39 via the support bracket 38. Are linked. Horizontal moving cylinder 3
9 is fixed to the apparatus frame via a cylinder support member 40. Therefore, the head holding member 22 is moved to a predetermined stirring position (the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 1) with the movement of the support bracket 38 and the mounting plate 36 by the operation of the horizontal movement cylinder 39. . When the test tube 11 is lifted from the test tube rack 10 with the rise of the vibration shaft 21 at the stirring position, the head holding member 22 causes the cap knob 16 of the test tube 11 to loosely fit into the guide hole 35, and the test is performed. Tube 11 is clamped between vibrating shaft 21. The guide hole 35 of the head holding member 22
As shown in FIG. 2, the opening has a wide opening at the bottom, and is formed in a tapered shape in which the opening diameter gradually decreases upward. The guide hole 35 is tapered, and guides the cap knob 16 toward the center when the cap knob 16 of the test tube 11 is loosely fitted. Thus, the guide hole 35 positions the test tube 11 sandwiched on an imaginary line connecting the head holding member 22 and the concave portion 15 of the holding rubber 23. The head holding member 22 and the mounting plate 36
The elastic member 37 as an elastic means interposed between the elastic member 37 is made of an elastically deformable cushion sponge or the like.
The one cut into a 5 mm square is fixed with a double-sided tape 41 or the like attached to the upper surface of the head holding member 22 and the lower surface of the mounting plate 36. When the test tube 11 is sandwiched between the head holding member 22 and the vibration shaft 21, the elastic member 37 is pressed and urged by the test tube 11, so that the elastic member 37 has a length corresponding to the longitudinal dimension of the test tube 11. Elastic deformation as appropriate (for example, 2 mm compression)
Then, the distance between the head holding member 22 and the vibration shaft 21 is adjusted. Thereby, the dimensional error in the longitudinal direction of each test tube can be absorbed, and an existing standard product can be used as the test tube 11 without any problem. Therefore, for example, even if there is a manufacturing error of about ± 2 mm in the longitudinal dimension of the test tube 11 (generally, there is an error of about ± 2 mm even in a test tube of the same model number), it is absorbed by the deformation of the elastic member 37. The test tube 11 is securely held between the head holding member 22 and the vibration shaft 21. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of position regulating arms 4 are provided below the mounting plate 36 of the support bracket 38.
2 are provided. Each of the position regulating arms 42 is displaced in a direction to reduce the mutual interval, and is moved to a predetermined position in the body of the test tube 11 (for example, one position from the upper end of the test tube 11
/ 3 lower position) to prevent problems such as the head of the cap 12 of the test tube 11 coming off the head holding member 22 during the plane circular movement of the vibration shaft 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the position regulating arm 42 is formed of an elastic synthetic resin or the like, and has a substantially circular trunk holding groove 43 in plan view that matches the shape of the trunk of the test tube 11. It is set so as not to come into contact with the test tube 11 being stirred. Therefore, the stirring mechanism 20 is provided with a mounting screw 4 for a cylinder supporting member 40 for supporting the horizontal moving cylinder 39.
4 is loosened, and the position adjustment of the horizontal motion cylinder 39 with respect to the apparatus frame is performed in advance. That is, the position of the horizontal moving cylinder 39 is adjusted such that the virtual center line along the longitudinal direction of the test tube 11 transported by the rack transport mechanism (not shown) coincides with the stirring position. The vibration shaft 21 has a total height of 88, for example.
Assemble the whole mechanism to obtain mm. Further, when the test tube 11 is sandwiched between the head holding member 22 and the vibration shaft 21, the mounting plate 36 is displaced upward by about 2 mm with respect to the mounting plate 36 due to the deformation of the elastic member 37. Is adjusted with respect to the support bracket 38. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 50 serving as a cap attaching / detaching means is provided with a cap 1 attached to the test tube 11 by a cap holding arm 51.
The cap 12 is detached from the test tube 11 by holding the cap 2 and moving the cap holding arm 51 in the horizontal and vertical directions by the horizontal moving cylinder 52 and the vertical moving cylinder 53. The cap holding arm 51 is attached to the tip of a cylinder rod 54 of a horizontal moving cylinder 52. The horizontal moving cylinder 52 is attached to a movable plate 56 fixed to the tip of a cylinder rod 55 of the vertical moving cylinder 53, and is moved up and down together with the cap holding arm 51 with the operation of the vertical moving cylinder 53. That is, when the cap 12 is detached from the test tube 11, the cap holding arm 51 is displaced in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The groove 57 is loosely fitted to the shaft portion 17 of the cap knob 16 of the test tube 11. Further, the cap holding arm 51 moves the U-shaped groove 5
The cap knob 16 is lifted while the upper surface of 7 is in contact with the lower surface of the cap knob 16. After that, the cap holding arm 51 moves as shown in FIG.
The cap 12 is returned in the direction opposite to the direction of the middle arrow A, and the cap 12 is removed from above the test tube 11. When the cap 12 is mounted on the test tube 11, the cap holding arm 51 moves from the state where the cap 12 is held to the predetermined cap attaching / detaching position in the direction of arrow A in FIG. To the horizontal moving cylinder 52 by the operation of the vertical moving cylinder 53.
The cap 12 is placed over the opening of the test tube 11 with the lowering of. Thereafter, the cap holding arm 51 is returned to the initial position in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow A in FIG. The cap holding arm 51 of the present embodiment
The cap 1 is formed by loosely fitting the U-shaped groove 57 into the shaft portion 17 of the cap knob 16 of the test tube 11.
2, but is not necessarily limited to such a configuration. That is, although not shown, for example, the cap holding arm 51 may be configured to be capable of performing a gripping operation, so that the cap 12 is directly gripped and held instead of the cap knob 16. Further, for example, a configuration in which the cap 12 is held by suctioning the upper surface of the cap 12 using a vacuum suction device or the like may be adopted.
According to these configurations, a test tube cap without the cap knob 16 can be used. Therefore, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 50 loosens the stopper screw 58 and adjusts the position of the cap holding arm 51 in advance. That is, the position along the horizontal direction of the cap holding arm 51 is adjusted such that the cap knob 16 of the test tube 11 at the cap attaching / detaching position is located substantially at the center of the U-shaped groove 57. Next, the operating speeds of the horizontal moving cylinder 52 and the vertical moving cylinder 53 are reduced by the cap holding arm 51.
The speed is adjusted by a speed controller (not shown) of each of the cylinders 52 and 53 so that the speed at which the cap 12 held in the cylinder 52 does not fall off is adjusted. After the adjustment, the lock nut (not shown) is tightened to fix the adjusted operation speed. Next, the work of diluting and stirring the specimen in the present embodiment will be described. First, one test tube 11 containing a desired sample is placed in each of the bottom through holes 14 of the test tube rack 10.
Set 0 (or 10 or less). Next, the test tube rack 10 is set on the rack transport mechanism such that the arrows 18 displayed on both side surfaces of the test tube rack 10 are along the transport direction of the test tube rack 10 (the maximum number of sets that can be set is 10).
Pieces). When a plurality of test tube racks 10 are set, they are set so that there is as little space as possible. Next, the diluting water is dispensed into the test tube 11 by dispensing means (not shown). At this time, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 50 moves the cap holding arm 51 holding the cap 12 to the horizontal moving cylinder 52. And vertical moving cylinder 5
The cap 12 of the test tube 11 is detached by appropriately moving in the horizontal and vertical directions by 3. When the test tubes 11 into which the sample and the dilution water have been dispensed are transported to the agitating means 20 by the rack transport mechanism (not shown) together with the test tube racks 10, the adjacent two rows of test tubes 11, 11 Is a pair of the stirring means 2
Stirred sequentially with 0. That is, in a state where each test tube 11 is sandwiched between the vibration shaft 21 and the head holding member 22, the vibration shaft 21 supported on the bottom moves in a plane circular motion, so that each test tube 11 becomes the head holding member 22. The pivot movement is performed with the cap knob 16 of the cap 12 loosely fitted on the fulcrum as a fulcrum. Therefore, a high-speed rotating force can be applied to the sample and the dilution water in the test tube 11, and the sample and the dilution water can be surely stirred. In addition, the specimen in the test tube and the dilution water can be uniformly mixed. It is desirable that the stirring of the specimen and the dilution water by the stirring means 20 is performed at about 3000 revolutions / minute for about 30 seconds at an eccentric amount of the eccentric rotary plate 32 of, for example, 5 mm. However, it has been confirmed that the pressing shaft 23 of the vibration shaft 21 oscillates during the eccentric rotation, and the bottom of the test tube 11 causes the eccentric rotation of the eccentric rotating plate 32 more than the eccentric amount. It needs to be considered. The stirring means 20 is used to stir a sample which is particularly difficult to stir (eg, toothpaste, cream, or a liquid product having a higher viscosity than these).
It is desirable that beads (for example, glass, about 4 mm in diameter) are mixed therein (for example, about 20 per test tube). According to this, even a sample that was difficult to stir could be uniformly mixed. In particular, by mixing the beads in the test tube 11, the time required for dispersing a poorly dispersible material such as toothpaste could be significantly reduced. In addition, even when used for mixing a sample that easily foams, such as a hair / skin cleanser, with dilution water, foaming can be suppressed and uniform mixing can be achieved, and the inside / outside of a sample pipetting pipette (not shown) can be used. The sample solution could be sucked without contaminating the sample. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the general outline of an automatic dilution / medium dispensing / pouring system made possible by applying the above-mentioned sample dilution / stirring apparatus.
In the figure, for example, 1 g or 1 m is added to a test tube 11 for performing a microbial test such as a viable cell count test and a preservative test.
The l-dispensed sample is mixed and diluted by the stirring means 20 with, for example, 9 ml of a diluent similarly dispensed into the test tube 11. For example, 1 ml of the diluted sample is dispensed into a petri dish 60 supplied from a petri dish supply unit (not shown) by a sample dispensing pipette means (not shown), and similarly, for example, 16 to 20 dispensed to the petri dish 60
It is poured in the pour stage 61 with ml of medium.
Thereafter, a label printed with a bar code or the like is attached to the lid 62 as necessary, and then, for example, ten petri dishes 60 are stacked in the stacking section 64 in a pile. That is, in the automatic dilution and medium dispensing / pouring system, the test tube 11 can be used for the test tube 11 even if the sample has a high viscosity or is easily foamed by using the dilution / stirring device of the above embodiment. The sample is dispensed into the test tube 11 while being set on the rack 10 and the dilution water nozzle and the culture medium nozzle (not shown) are simply set. Can be processed in the clean booth, and the incorporation of bacteria into the test tube 11 can be prevented and labor can be saved. In the above embodiment, a portion where the sample comes into contact with the outside air, for example, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism 50 of the test tube 11 is used.
It is preferable that a clean booth and a clean air generating device (not shown) are provided side by side. Thus, even in a place where a normal atmosphere is provided, processes such as a viable cell count test and an antiseptic test can be performed automatically and unattended in an environment free of external bacteria. In the above-described embodiment, as the pretreatment of the sample to be dispensed into the petri dish 60, only the simple dilution or dissolution of the sample is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is,
For example, by dispensing a sample into the first test tube 11 and setting an empty test tube 11 behind it, a sample having a desired dilution ratio can be obtained while performing a serial dilution method for further diluting the diluted sample. A process of dispensing to the petri dish 60 can also be performed. As described above, according to the present invention, the bottom of the test tube is caused to make a plane circular motion while being held in the longitudinal direction by the vibrating means and the head holding means. Makes a pivotal motion about the head. Therefore, a high-speed rotational force can be applied to the sample and the dilution water in the test tube, and the sample and the dilution water can be reliably stirred. Further, since the elastic means can be elastically deformed as appropriate according to the longitudinal dimension of the test tube, the interval between the vibrating means and the head holding means is automatically adjusted to reduce the dimensional error in the longitudinal direction of each test tube. Can be absorbed. Therefore, an existing standard product can be used as a test tube without any problem. Therefore, even if the sample has a high viscosity, a good sample dilution / stirring apparatus capable of uniformly mixing the sample in the test tube and the dilution water can be provided. As a result, dilution and
By applying a stirrer, an automatic dilution / medium dispensing / pouring system that completely automates the process from sample dilution to medium dispensing / pouring has become possible. EXAMPLES The effects of the present invention will be clarified below based on examples. (Example 1) First, 9 ml of liquid medium (SCDLPB) was placed in each test tube having a diameter of 18 mm and 20 mm, and the liquid level before adding the sample was measured. Next, 1.0 g of each sample which easily foamed was added, and the height of foaming immediately after stirring for about 30 seconds was measured by the stirring mechanism 20 shown in FIG. Table 1 below shows the measured values. [Table 1] As is clear from Table 1, in each case, the liquid level is only about 10 mm higher, and the stirring means 20 of the present invention can surely stir even a sample which is easily foamed. Further, when 1 ml of each sample solution was sucked up with a 1 ml pipette, no contamination to the inside and outside of the pipette was observed, and the sample solution was well sucked. Example 2 After placing 9 ml of liquid medium (SCDLPB) into each test tube having a diameter of 18 mm and 20 mm, 1.0 g of each sample having poor dispersibility was added, and the stirring mechanism shown in FIG. 1 was added. 20 was used to measure the time required for dispersion. The dispersion of each sample was observed at intervals of 15 seconds for the cream product and at 30 seconds for the dentifrice product. Each sample was judged to be completely dispersed if the large lumps were gone (even if some small ones remained). The results are shown in Table 2 below. [Table 2] As is apparent from Table 2, the dispersibility of the cream product was good, and stirring for 30 seconds was sufficient. Poor dispersibility for toothpaste products, up to 3 min 30
It took seconds, but it turns out that dispersion is possible. Regarding the suction of each sample solution with a pipette, clogging did not occur in any of the sample solutions, and the sample solution could be easily sucked. (Embodiment 3) First, a diameter of 18 mm and a diameter of 20 mm
After placing 9 ml of liquid medium (SCDLPB) in each test tube of 1.0 mm, 1.0 g of each sample of the dentifrice product having poor dispersibility was obtained.
After immersion for 30 minutes, the time required for dispersion was measured by the stirring mechanism 20 shown in FIG. The results are shown in Table 3 below. [Table 3] As is clear from Table 3, when compared with the result of Example 2 in which stirring was performed immediately after the addition of the sample, although the stirring time was considerably reduced, the target within 30 seconds could not be cleared. Was. (Embodiment 4) First, a diameter of 18 mm
After placing 9 ml of liquid medium (SCDLPB) in each test tube of 1.0 mm, 1.0 g of each sample of the toothpaste product having poor dispersibility was obtained.
And after adding about 20 glass beads with a diameter of about 4 mm,
The time required for dispersion was measured by the stirring mechanism 20 shown in FIG. The results are shown in Table 4 below. [Table 4] As is clear from Table 4, the stirring time can be considerably shortened, and it is possible to clear the target within 30 seconds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a stirring means of a sample dilution / stirring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state where the stirring means shown in FIG. 1 holds a test tube. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a vibration shaft of a stirring means of the sample dilution / stirring apparatus of FIG. 1 and a driving mechanism thereof. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a position regulating arm of the stirring means shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a test tube rack used in the dilution / stirring apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a bottom of the test tube rack shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a cap attaching / detaching mechanism used in the dilution / stirring apparatus shown in FIG. 1; 8 is a plan view showing a cap holding arm of the cap attaching / detaching mechanism shown in FIG. 7; 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining an overall outline of an automatic dilution / medium dispensing / pouring system to which the sample dilution / stirring apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is applied. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Test tube rack 11 Test tube 12 Cap 16 Cap knob 20 Stirrer 21 Vibrating shaft 22 Head holding member 37 Elastic member 42 Position regulating arm 50 Cap detachment mechanism

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hideo Inoue 2-1 Hirai, Hinodecho, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo Nippon Mining Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kensuke Tanaka 1-3, Honjo, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 7 Lion Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Ito 1-3-7 Honjo, Sumida-ku, Tokyo Lion Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-B-47-39027 (JP, B1) JIN-KO 46-12392 ( JP, Y1) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C12M 1/00-3/10 C12Q 1/00-1/70 G01N 1/00-1/44 BIOSIS / WPI (DIALOG) PubMed

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A sample dilution / stirring apparatus provided with a stirring means for stirring a sample and dilution water in a test tube, wherein the stirring means is provided at a bottom of the test tube. A vibrating means for making a predetermined plane circular motion in contact with the head, a head holding means for holding the test tube in the longitudinal direction between the vibrating means and the vibrating means by abutting on the head of the test tube; Elastic means capable of adjusting the distance between the vibrating means and the head holding means by appropriately elastically deforming according to the longitudinal dimension of the test tube held between the head holding means and the test tube; A sample dilution / stirring apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.