JP3697535B2 - Test piece pickup mechanism and test piece supply device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a measuring unit for taking out test pieces used for analyzing liquid samples such as urine and blood in clinical examinations, particularly urine samples, from test piece bottles (containers) containing a large number of the test pieces. In particular, a test piece pick-up head for taking out a test piece and judging its front and back, and a test piece supply device for selecting a required bottle from a plurality of test piece bottles and rotating them to a test piece take-out position About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Urine testing is important as a screening test for renal function tests and diabetes diagnosis because samples can be easily collected and the results are known in a short time. It is an essential test item for group screening such as schoolchild screening and workplace screening. It has become. In the case of group screening, the number of specimens is so large that they will be processed by a continuous automatic analyzer. However, in order to speed up the measurement, the specimen should be efficiently removed from the container and supplied to the analyzer. Is required.
[0003]
Conventionally, as this type of supply device, a test piece is put into a hopper, the bottom of the hopper is slid and aligned one by one, held by a scissor mechanism at the tip of the arm, and supplied to the measurement unit. Equipment, equipment that stacks and stores a large number of test specimens in cassettes one by one, and similarly holds them with a scissor mechanism and supplies them to the measuring unit (Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-26434). Transfer from commercially available containers to dedicated containers There is a device for taking out test pieces one by one from the dedicated container. However, it is necessary to transfer the test piece from the commercially available container once, and the test piece remaining after the measurement is collected in order to prevent deterioration of the quality due to moisture and returned to the commercial container. There is a problem that the reagent layer of the test piece may be contaminated. In view of this, a technique (JP-A-7-306207, JP-A-7-311203) has been proposed in which a commercially available container is used as it is, and a test piece is adsorbed and taken out by an air chuck.
[0004]
On the other hand, the test piece taken out from the container is supplied to the measuring unit, and the test piece is provided with a reagent layer on one side of the stick (this surface is the surface) and is usually placed with the surface facing upward. In the case of the cassette type and hopper type (with front / back discrimination function) described above, the surface can be taken out so that it can be supplied to the measuring section as it is. However, when taking out from a commercially available container or a dedicated cylindrical container by suction etc. The front and back are random. In the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-311203, it is used that the test piece is once placed on the turntable of the measurement unit in the orientation in which the test piece is taken out and sucked from the lower side of the table and the suction resistance is different between the front and back sides. Then, the front and back sides are determined, and when the back side is upward, the test piece is reversed.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the configuration in which the front and back sides are determined on the turntable and reversed when necessary, there is a problem that the configuration and operation of the apparatus become complicated. In order to solve these problems, the present invention performs front / back determination while the test piece is sucked out from the bottle and transported to the measuring unit, and when the back surface is upward, it is reversed in the middle. .
[0006]
On the other hand, the number of test pieces stored in a commercially available test piece bottle is limited. Therefore, when performing continuous measurement of a large number of samples exceeding that number, the test specimen bottle must be replaced during the measurement. In general clinics and hospitals, measurement items and item groups may differ from sample to sample. In such cases, the specimen bottle must be replaced each time. In order to cope with these problems, the present invention makes it possible to install a plurality of test specimen bottles, and in the case of continuous measurement of a large number of specimens, a plurality of test specimen bottles of the same kind, different measurement items and item groups are used. In order to cope with the above, a plurality of different kinds of test piece bottles were installed so that the bottles could be automatically exchanged to the test piece take-out position as required.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
First, taking out of the test piece will be described. The test piece used in the present invention is one in which a reagent layer is provided on one end side of an elongated paper or plastic stick and the other end side is a gripping portion. The surface provided with the reagent layer is the front. And at least a part of the front and back of the grip portion has a different reflectance. For example, one of the front and back sides of the milky white plastic stick is left as it is, and the other is printed (colored) with characters, logo marks, barcodes or solid coating, or printed with a color having a different reflectance from the front and back sides. If printing is performed on the surface of the gripping part, there is the convenience that the manufacturer name and type of the test piece can be immediately read together with the color and number of reagent layers.
[0008]
The test piece is taken out from the test piece bottle by an adsorption type test piece pickup head. The test piece pick-up head has a suction portion that holds the test piece in a correct orientation by fitting the test piece gripping portion, and the suction portion has an opening for sucking and fixing the test piece gripping portion. . A photodetector is provided in the vicinity of the suction port. The light detector preferably has a light emitting diode and a reflection type phototransistor integrated with each other, but may be used separately from the light source in combination with the light source. This photodetector measures the reflectance of the grip portion, and makes a front / back determination by comparing the value, that is, by comparing the value with a preset range value. A photodetector may be installed inside the suction port, and the reflectance of the test piece gripping part may be measured through the suction port. Or you may provide a photodetector separately in the location away from the adsorption | suction part, but a measurement near the suction port is more stable.
[0009]
Although only one photodetector may be provided, two photodetectors may be provided for measurement and reference. In this case, for example, a logo mark is printed on the front and back so that only the portion of the gripping portion where the measurement photodetector (S sensor) is in contact has different reflectance, and the reference photodetector (R sensor) is For example, the material of the stick is left as it is so that the reflectance is the same on both sides. In this way, the S sensor shows a low reflection level when the front side is adsorbed to the adsorption part of the test piece, and shows a high reflection level of the stick fabric when the back side is adsorbed. On the other hand, the R sensor shows a high reflection level of the stick fabric in both cases. Then, an output ratio (S / R) between the S sensor and the R sensor is obtained, and the value is compared with a preset threshold value, thereby making a front / back determination. In this way, the sensitivity variation of the S sensor can be calibrated, and more accurate determination can be expected. In the type in which the photodetector is installed inside the suction port, two suction ports may be provided, one suction port is provided, one photodetector is installed in the interior, and the like. One of these may be provided in the vicinity of the suction port.
[0010]
The front / back determination is performed while the test piece pickup head is transporting the test piece to the measurement unit. Similarly, during the conveyance, the test piece pickup head is rotated so that the reagent part of the test piece is supplied upward to the measurement unit. For example, when a test piece pickup head is inserted into a test specimen bottle that is turned sideways and the test piece is adsorbed with the adsorbing part facing down, the test piece adsorption surface is left as it is, while the back side is The test piece pickup head is rotated 180 degrees, and then the test piece is placed on the measurement unit. In the case where the test piece pickup head is inserted into the test piece bottle facing upward or obliquely from the appropriate direction to suck the test piece, the test piece is determined after determining the front and back of the test piece on the surface in contact with the suction portion. The head is rotated and placed on the measuring unit so that the front side of the head is facing upward. The reason for placing the test piece face up on the measuring unit is that it is convenient to observe the reagent layer from above because of the configuration of the apparatus. If the analyzer is configured to observe the reagent layer from below, it is placed on the measurement unit with the front of the test piece facing downward. However, in an apparatus configured to drop a liquid sample onto the reagent layer after placing the test piece on the measurement unit, the reagent layer is usually observed from the upper side.
[0011]
In the case of an analyzer that immerses the reagent layer in the liquid sample instead of dripping the liquid sample into the reagent layer, the liquid sample is immersed in the liquid sample in the middle of transporting the test piece. Front / back determination is made and placed on the measurement unit.
[0012]
As described above, the test piece pickup head moves three-dimensionally, such as insertion and rotation into the test piece bottle, and conveyance to the measurement unit. This movement may be performed by attaching a head to the end of the robot arm, or a structure in which the head is rotatably supported by a support shaft and the support shaft is driven back and forth, up and down, and left and right. Also good.
[0013]
Next, the test strip supply apparatus which installs a test strip bottle is demonstrated. The test strip supply apparatus of the present invention is a bottle swinger that holds a test strip bottle and rotates the test strip bottle to a test strip take-out position above a side portion of a rotating plate type bottle changer on which a plurality of test strip bottles are placed. A mechanism is provided. The bottle changer includes a disk-like turntable and a drive unit that rotationally drives the table, and the turntable includes a plurality of, for example, four test piece bottle placement units. The test piece bottle may be a dedicated container, but a commercially available test piece bottle can be used as it is. If it does in this way, the trouble of transfer of a test piece, re-storage, etc. will not be required, and there is no possibility of damaging a test piece. And when using a commercially available test piece bottle, it mounts on a bottle changer as it is with the cap removed.
[0014]
The bottle changer rotates so that the test specimen bottle containing the test specimen necessary for measurement comes to the position of the bottle swinging mechanism. The rotation is performed one by one when measuring the same item continuously in large quantities, and when the measurement item or item group changes from sample to sample, the sample ID recognized by the device matches the order information. The test specimen bottles are sequentially moved to the position of the bottle swinging mechanism. Then, the test strip bottle that has come to that position is rotated and moved to the test strip removal position by the bottle swinging mechanism. The test piece removal position is not particularly limited as long as the test piece pickup head can be inserted and the test piece can be easily and reliably adsorbed. However, since the test piece is concentrated on one side portion of the test piece bottle when it is turned sideways, the test piece is easily and reliably adsorbed. Also, keeping the bottom somewhat low can prevent the specimen from popping out. When the test piece bottle is swung several times between the vertical state and the horizontal state, the test pieces are easily and reliably aligned and height-aligned. This swinging operation is performed arbitrarily during the measurement, or every predetermined time or every predetermined number of measurements.
[0015]
The bottle swinging mechanism may be of any structure as long as it securely holds the test strip bottle placed on the bottle changer and rotates it to the test strip removal position. For example, it may be composed of an arm for gripping the test strip bottle and a rotation driving portion of the arm, or may be composed of a hook engaged with a jacket mounted on the test strip bottle and the rotation driving portion of the hook. Good. In the former, there is no limit to the direction in which the test specimen bottle is placed, and in the latter, the jacket must be placed so that the locking part of the jacket faces the swinging mechanism, but positioning is accurate and the mechanism is simple. There is an advantage that it can be downsized. The bottle changer may be rotated horizontally, but may be rotated in an inclined state with the side on which the bottle rocking mechanism is provided being raised. In this case, since the bottle swinging mechanism is provided on the inner side of the analyzer, there is an advantage that the test specimen bottle can be easily placed and removed.
[0016]
In the case of the present invention, all the test piece bottles are in a state where the caps are removed during the measurement. Therefore, the test piece may be exposed to the atmosphere for a long time and may absorb moisture and deteriorate. In order to avoid such a situation, it is preferable to enclose a moisture absorbent inside the test piece bottle or to provide air curtain type moisture-proof means by dry air.
[0017]
As the moisture-proof means, a combination of a moisture-proof cover that covers the upper part of the bottle changer or the upper part of each test piece bottle on the bottle changer, and a pressure pump that sends dry air into the cover via a dehumidification column is conceivable. Or you may replace with these covers and use the moisture-proof tube inserted in each test piece bottle on a bottle changer. If used in combination with a desiccant, the moisture-proof effect is further improved.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a test piece used in the present invention. This test piece 1 is provided with a plurality of reagent layers 1b on one end side of an elongated milky white plastic stick 1a and the other end side as a gripping portion 1c. The surface on which the reagent layer 1b is provided is a front surface, and a logo mark 1d is printed on a part of the grip portion 1c.
[0019]
2 shows an example of the test piece pickup head 2. FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view of the test piece pickup head 2 from below, and FIG. 2 (b) is a longitudinal sectional view of the test piece 1 adsorbed. It is. As shown in the figure, the test piece pick-up head 2 is provided with a suction portion 3 formed of a recess into which the test piece gripping portion 1c is fitted exactly on the lower surface of the long side of the L shape. The suction part 3 has a suction port 4 that sucks and fixes the grip part 1c. By fitting the gripping part 1c into the adsorption part 3, the test piece 1 is aligned and held in the correct direction. In the vicinity of the suction port 4, a measurement photodetector (S sensor) 5 is provided at a position matching the logo mark 1d, and a reference photodetector (R sensor) 6 is provided at a position away from the logo mark 1d. ing. A support shaft 7 is fitted on the short side of the L shape, and the inside of the suction portion 3 is connected to an air suction hole 8 that penetrates the support shaft 7. In the figure, reference numeral 9 is a substrate, 10 is a cover that covers the substrate portion, and 11 and 12 are O-rings that keep the inside of the suction portion airtight.
[0020]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the test piece pickup mechanism 13 including the drive unit of the test piece pickup head 2. The drive unit includes a two-plate lever 14 that pivotally supports the support shaft 7, a push shaft 15 that moves the lever 14 back and forth, a lever rotation shaft 16, and a lever 14 that moves up and down to move the test piece. It consists of a push shaft 17 that rotates the pickup head 2 up and down. The lever rotation shaft 16 is a spline shaft that is rotated by a pulse motor 18, and the rotation of the lever rotation shaft 16 is transmitted to the support shaft 7 through the timing belt 19 to rotate the test piece pickup head 2. By this mechanism, the specimen pick-up head is allowed to move up and down, back and forth, and rotation. An air suction hole 8 passes through the support shaft 7 and is connected to a suction pump 21 via a hose 20. The middle of the hose branches and continues to the pressure sensor 22. By detecting a negative pressure increase in the hose 20 by the pressure sensor 22, the adsorption of the test piece 1 to the adsorption unit 3 is confirmed.
[0021]
FIG. 4 shows an example of the main part of the test strip supply device 23, and FIG. 5 shows the whole including the test strip pickup head 2. Moreover, FIG. 6 shows the state which mounts a test piece on the test piece reaction line of a measurement part. The test strip supply device 23 includes a bottle changer 25 in which the turntable 24 rotates with a slight inclination, and a bottle swinging mechanism 26 provided above (on the side part) above the highest position of the turntable 24. Composed. Four (2 in the figure) jacket holders 27 are concentrically fixed to the turntable 24, and a commercially available test specimen bottle 29 fitted with a jacket 28 is placed and fixed with the cap removed. Is done. The jacket 28 is fixed to the jacket holder 27 by engaging the upper and lower recesses 28 a and 28 b of the jacket 28 with the pins 27 a and 27 b of the jacket holder 27. Reference numeral 30 denotes a drive unit of the turntable 24.
[0022]
The bottle swinging mechanism 26 includes a hook 31 that engages with the jacket 28, a hook rotating shaft 32, and a motor 33. First, the test specimen bottle 29 (in the state shown in FIG. 5A) that has come to a predetermined position is rotationally moved by the hook 31 to a substantially horizontal test specimen removal position (in the state shown in FIG. 5B). This rotational movement is performed by engaging the recessed portion 31a of the hook with the pin 28c of the jacket, simultaneously pressing the lower end portion 31b of the hook against the base portion 28d of the jacket, and rotating the hook rotating shaft 32. Reference numeral 28e is a stopper for fixing the hook lower end 31b to the jacket base 28d.
[0023]
The test strip pickup head 2 inserted into the test strip bottle 29 at this position (the state shown in FIG. 5B) is lowered and placed on the stack of test strips 1 by its own weight as shown in FIG. (A position in the figure). Thereafter, the head 2 is rotated on the bundle of the test pieces 1 several times in the range of 90 degrees to the left and right, and an opportunity of meeting with many test pieces 1 is obtained. During this time, one test piece 1 is sucked and held on the suction portion 3. When the test piece bottle is swung several times between the vertical state (the state shown in FIG. 5C) and the horizontal state (the state shown in FIG. 5B), the test piece 1 is aligned in the bottle. . This swinging operation is performed arbitrarily during the measurement, or every predetermined time or every predetermined number of measurements. Further, if the bottom of the test strip bottle 29 is somewhat lower than the horizontal, the test strip 1 can be prevented from popping out. As the bottle swinging mechanism, an arm 34 that holds the test specimen bottle 29 may be used instead of the hook 31 as shown in FIG. The arm 34 opens and closes the gripping part to grip and open the test specimen bottle 29. In this case, the jacket 28 and the jacket holder 27 are not necessary.
[0024]
When the pressure sensor 22 senses that the test piece 1 is attracted and held by the head 2, the head 2 moves to the measurement position (position b in FIG. 6) and is placed on the test piece reaction line 35. 1 is placed. In this case, if it is determined that the front and back sides of the test piece 1 are opposite during transport, the test piece 1 is placed on the reaction line 35 after the head 2 is rotated 180 degrees (position C in FIG. 6). . A liquid sample is dropped from the nozzle 36 onto each reagent layer 1 b on the test piece 1 placed on the reaction line 35. In addition, the front / back determination of the test piece 1 is performed by obtaining the output ratio (S / R) of the S sensor and the R sensor and comparing the value with a preset range value.
[0025]
Next, the test piece moisture-proof means will be described. In the case of the present invention, all the test piece bottles are in a state where the caps are removed during the measurement. When the reagent layer 1b of the test piece 1 is exposed to moisture, the reagent layer 1b may absorb moisture and deteriorate its quality. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a moisture-proof cover 37 is provided to cover the top of each test piece bottle 29 on the bottle changer 25, and dry air is fed into the cover. Dry air is supplied from a pressure pump 39 via a dehumidification column 38. If a desiccant (not shown) is stored in the test piece bottle 29, the moisture-proof effect is further improved.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, the present invention is necessary from among a plurality of test strip bottles, and a test strip pick-up mechanism for taking out test strips for analyzing liquid samples such as urine and blood in clinical tests one by one from the test strip bottles. The present invention relates to an improvement of a test strip supply device that selects a bottle and rotates it to a test strip removal position. The test piece pickup mechanism according to the present invention includes a photodetector for performing front / back determination of a gripping portion having at least a part of which has a different reflectance on the front and back surfaces of the suction portion of the test piece pickup head that sucks and holds the gripping portion of the test piece. The test piece pickup head is rotatably supported while being provided. Further, the test strip supply apparatus of the present invention is a bottle that holds a test strip bottle and rotates the test strip bottle to a test strip take-out position above one side of a rotating plate type bottle changer on which a plurality of test strip bottles are placed. A swing mechanism is provided.
[0027]
Therefore, it has the following characteristics.
(1) A test specimen bottle that is commercially available with the test specimen stored therein can be used as it is. Therefore, the operation of transferring the test piece to a dedicated container or hopper becomes unnecessary, labor saving can be achieved, and contamination of the test piece accompanying the transfer can be prevented.
(2) Since multiple test bottles can be placed, even when multiple samples are continuously measured, it is not necessary to replace the test bottles during measurement, and the measurement items and item groups differ from sample to sample. Since a plurality of different kinds of test piece bottles can be installed and the bolts can be automatically exchanged to the test piece take-out position as necessary, further labor saving can be achieved.
{Circle around (3)} During measurement, the test piece bottle can be swung freely, so that the test pieces are always aligned and the test piece can be easily taken out.
(4) Front / back and front / back reversal of test specimens taken one by one with the test specimen pick-up head can be performed while gripping the test specimen and transporting it to the measuring unit. In this case, the time required for determination and inversion can be shortened and the apparatus can be simplified as compared with the case of inversion.
{Circle around (5)} By simply printing on a part of the test piece gripping part and providing a light detector on the test piece suction part of the test piece pickup head, the front and back of the test piece can be easily and reliably determined. Therefore, extra costs are minimal.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a test piece used in the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show an example of a test piece pickup head 2, in which FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the test piece pickup head 2 from below, and FIG. 2B is a longitudinal sectional view of the test piece 1 adsorbed.
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a test piece pickup mechanism.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of a test strip supply apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part including a test strip pickup mechanism and a test strip supply device in the analyzer of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a state in which a test piece is placed on a test piece reaction line of a measurement unit.
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another example of the bottle swinging mechanism.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Test piece 1b Reagent layer 1c Grasp part 1d Logo mark 2 Test piece pick-up head 3 Adsorption part 4 Suction port 5 Photodetector 6 Reference photo detector 7 Support shaft 13 Test piece pick-up mechanism 23 Test piece supply apparatus 25 Bottle Changer 26 Bottle swing mechanism 27 Jacket holder 28 Jacket 29 Specimen bottle 31 Hook 35 Reaction line 36 Nozzle

Claims (9)

The test piece for liquid sample analysis is taken out from the test piece bottle one by one, and at least part of the front and back of the grip part having different front and back reflectance is attached to the test piece pickup head that holds the grip part of the test piece by suction. A test piece pickup mechanism provided with a photo detector for making a determination and supporting the test piece pickup head in a rotatable state in which the front and back of the test piece can be reversed .   A test piece for liquid sample analysis is taken out from a test piece bottle one by one, and a test piece pickup head that sucks and holds the test piece gripping part has at least a part of the front and back sides of the gripping part having different reflectances. A test piece pick-up mechanism characterized in that at least two measurement and reference detectors are provided as detectors for determination, and the test piece pick-up head is supported in a rotatable state in which the front and back of the test piece can be reversed. In the method of taking out the test piece from the test piece bottle, the test piece pick-up head is inserted into the test piece bottle containing the test piece for liquid sample analysis having at least a part of the grip part having different front and back reflectances , While picking up and holding the grip of one test piece on the test piece pick-up head, the front and back of the test piece are judged by a photodetector provided on the test piece pick-up head, and the test piece is being transported to the measuring unit A method for removing a test piece, comprising: rotating the test piece pickup head so that the reagent part of the test piece is supplied upward to the measurement unit.   In the method of taking out the test piece from the test piece bottle, the test piece pick-up head is inserted into the test piece bottle containing the test piece for liquid sample analysis having at least a part of the grip part having different front and back reflectances, The test piece pick-up head picks up and holds the grip of one test piece, and the front and back sides of the test piece are judged by at least two photo detectors for measurement and reference provided on the test piece pick-up head. Then, in the middle of transporting the test piece to the measurement unit, the test piece pick-up head is rotated so that the reagent part of the test piece is supplied upward to the measurement unit. A test strip used for liquid sample analysis is supplied, and the test strip bottle is held sideways above the side of a rotating plate type bottle changer that places a plurality of test strip bottles in an open state upward. A test piece supply apparatus provided with a bottle rocking mechanism that rotates and moves to the test piece take-out position.   6. The test strip supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the bottle swinging mechanism includes a hook that engages with a jacket mounted on the test strip bottle, and a rotation drive unit of the hook.   6. The test strip supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the bottle swinging mechanism includes an arm for gripping the test strip bottle and a rotation driving unit of the arm.   6. A test strip supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a moisture-proof cover is provided above the bottle changer to cover the entire bottle changer or each test strip bottle mounting portion, and a pump for feeding dry air into the moisture-proof cover is incorporated. . In the method of supplying test strips used in liquid sample analysis, test strips necessary for measurement are stored from a plurality of same or different test strip bottles placed open on a rotating plate bottle changer. select a specimen bottle are both Nikki rotate moved to sideways specimen removal position to hold the specimen bottles said selected bottle swing mechanism, aligning the inside of the specimen swings needed, test A test piece supply method, wherein a test piece is taken out one by one by inserting a single pickup head into a test piece bottle.

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