JP3925655B2 - Inspection apparatus and shake culture apparatus provided with the inspection apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention can collect a predetermined amount of liquid to be tested from a container in which the liquid to be tested is stored, perform a predetermined test, and then return the collected liquid to be tested to the container again. For example, culture of microorganisms The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus that is preferably used when collecting and inspecting a culture solution provided for monitoring and monitoring the progress of culture, and a shaking culture apparatus including the inspection apparatus.

  Conventionally, a shaking culture apparatus is known as an apparatus for culturing microorganisms. This shaking culture apparatus is provided with a gantry that is shaken by an appropriate mechanism in a thermostatic bath. A culture vessel such as a flask containing a culture solution is placed and fixed on the gantry, and a microorganism is added to the culture solution. (Inoculum) is inoculated and shaken to cultivate and grow microorganisms in the culture solution.

  In the culturing operation of microorganisms, it is very preferable to monitor the degree of culturing in order to efficiently perform the culturing operation. In this case, it is generally known that the turbidity of the culture solution changes (usually the turbidity increases) as the bacterial concentration in the culture solution increases as the culture progresses. By measuring and examining changes in the bacterial concentration, it is possible to know the degree of culture progress.

  Therefore, when monitoring the progress of the culture, a predetermined amount of the culture solution is collected from the culture vessel using a dropper or the like during the culture operation, transferred to a measuring cell, set in a spectrophotometer, and the culture solution. By measuring the light transmittance, the change in the turbidity of the culture solution is examined, and the progress of the culture is monitored.

However, as described above, the measurement of the turbidity of the culture solution requires a complicated operation, and the turbidity measurement was performed for culturing rare microorganisms or for microorganisms that cannot be easily discarded. It is necessary to return the later sample culture solution to the culture vessel again, which further complicates the operation. In many cases, a plurality of (for example, 2 to 10) culture containers are accommodated in the culture apparatus and cultured in a plurality of containers at the same time. In this case, when different microorganisms are cultured in each container, When the culture conditions such as the composition of the culture solution are changed, the turbidity measurement must be performed for each container in order to monitor the progress of the culture, and the operation is extremely complicated.
In addition, when measuring the turbidity of the above culture solution, the shaking operation is stopped, and the culture solution is collected, measured, and returned, but if the shaking operation is stopped, the growth rate of the microorganism is Naturally, it decreases, and this measurement operation may reduce the culture efficiency. Furthermore, when turbidity measurement is performed on a plurality of containers, the shaking operation must be stopped for a long time or frequently, and a decrease in the growth rate while the shaking operation is stopped cannot be ignored.

  Therefore, in order to measure the concentration of bacteria in such a culture solution relatively easily, the concentration of bacteria can be measured without removing the culture solution from a culture container such as a flask. Photometer “BACTMONITOR” is available for sale (Seller: Hitachi Instrument Service, Non-Patent Document 1: “Photometer for Bacterial Concentration Measurement BACTMONITOR”, Hitachi Instrument Service Website, New Information (March 28, 2001) Posted), [Search December 17, 2003], Internet <URL: http://www.hisco.co.jp/prod/bactmonitor/>).

“Photometer for bacterial concentration measurement BACTMONITOR”, Hitachi Instrument Service website, new information (posted on March 28, 2001), [searched on December 17, 2003], Internet <URL: http: // www. hisco. co. jp / prod / bactmonitor >>

  The fungus concentration measurement photometer uses a flask having a test tube measurement unit provided in a branched shape, and the test tube measurement unit of the flask can be set in the measurement unit of the spectrophotometer. Set the flask in culture as it is in the measuring part of the photometer, measure the light transmittance of the culture solution while keeping the culture solution in the flask, and check the turbidity of the culture solution. The concentration can be measured. According to this photometer for measuring bacterial concentration, the operation of collecting the culture solution in the flask, the operation of transferring the collected culture solution to the measurement cell, and the operation of returning the culture solution after measurement to the flask can be omitted. Stop the shaking culture device, take out the flask, set it on the photometer, perform the measurement, return the flask to the shaking culture device again and restart the culture, effectively simplifying the measurement operation be able to.

  However, even when this photoconcentration photometer is used, the shaking culture apparatus is stopped every time measurement is performed, the flask is taken out of the culture apparatus, set in the photometer, measurement is performed, and the flask is cultured again. The operator has to manually perform the operation of resuming the shaking culture after setting, and it is substantially the same as requiring complicated work although it is somewhat reduced. In particular, when culturing at the same time in a plurality of flasks as described above, a considerable labor is required for the measurement work, and a decrease in culture efficiency at that time cannot be ignored. In addition, when using this photometer for measuring the concentration of bacteria, a special flask having a test tube measuring portion branched into branches as described above must be used, and the containers used for culture are limited. There are also drawbacks.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when culturing microorganisms with a shaking culture apparatus, it is possible to easily measure the concentration of bacteria in a culture solution without requiring a complicated operation. Measurements can be automated or semi-automated without requiring manual labor, and a decrease in culture efficiency due to measurement can be prevented as much as possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inspection apparatus that can be monitored and a shaking culture apparatus equipped with the inspection apparatus.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is inserted or connected to a container in which a liquid to be inspected is stored, and is connected to the liquid collecting pipe for sucking and collecting the liquid to be inspected, the liquid collecting pipe, An inspection flow path provided with an inspection unit that performs a predetermined inspection on the inspection liquid introduced in part from the liquid collection pipe,
An inspection mechanism section that performs a predetermined inspection on the liquid to be inspected in the inspection section, and a pump that can be reversed and reversed and connected to the inspection flow path via a buffer flow path. By the suction operation, the liquid to be inspected is sucked and collected into the inspection flow path through the liquid collection pipe, and the liquid to be inspected in the inspection section in the inspection flow path is predetermined by the inspection mechanism section. In the inspection apparatus that inverts the pump and returns the liquid to be inspected in the liquid collection flow path composed of the liquid collection pipe, the test flow path and the buffer flow path to the container, the liquid collection pipe, the inspection A plurality of liquid collection channels comprising a flow channel and a buffer flow channel are provided, and each liquid collection channel is connected to the pump via a buffer space, and a single pump simultaneously covers a plurality of containers through each liquid collection channel. Aspirate the test solution and apply it to each test solution at the same time. Performed 査, it provides a test apparatus characterized by being configured so as to return the inspected liquid into each container.

  That is, the inspection apparatus of the present invention guides the liquid to be inspected from the container to the inspection flow path by the suction of the pump, and performs a predetermined inspection by the inspection mechanism section in the inspection section provided in the inspection flow path. The test liquid collected by inverting the pump after the test is returned to the container through the liquid sampling pipe. Therefore, according to this inspection apparatus, by inserting or connecting the liquid collection pipe into a container containing the liquid to be inspected, the pump is operated to pass the liquid to be inspected through the liquid collection pipe in the inspection flow path. It is possible to return to the container the liquid to be inspected that has been collected in the inspection section and that has been collected by inverting the pump after the inspection.

  Thus, according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention, no operation is required for the container or the liquid to be inspected by inserting or connecting the liquid collection pipe to the container in which the liquid to be inspected is stored. The liquid to be inspected can be collected, inspected, and returned simply by activating / reversing the pump, and a predetermined inspection can be performed semi-automatically on the liquid to be inspected. In addition, the above inspection can be fully automated by using a control device such as a computer to start / reverse / stop the pump, operate / control the inspection mechanism, and record the inspection results. By programming an inspection schedule, it is possible to automatically perform a predetermined inspection at predetermined intervals and automatically monitor the state of the liquid to be inspected contained in the container for a predetermined period.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, a plurality of liquid collection channels comprising the above-described liquid collection pipe, test flow channel and buffer flow channel are provided, the liquid to be tested is collected from a plurality of containers at the same time, and a predetermined test is performed. It is configured to return the test liquid, whereby a predetermined test can be automatically or semi-automatically performed on each test liquid stored in a plurality of containers. In this case, in the present invention, a plurality of liquid collection channels are connected to one pump via a buffer space, and the liquid to be inspected is simultaneously collected from a plurality of containers through each liquid collection channel by one pump. In addition, a predetermined inspection is simultaneously performed on each liquid to be inspected, and the liquid to be inspected is returned to each container, so that the apparatus can be configured at a relatively low cost. In this case, a sensor is provided for detecting that the liquid to be inspected has reached a predetermined position of the buffer flow path that constitutes the liquid collection flow path, and when the liquid to be inspected is detected by the sensor, the pump The suction operation is stopped and the pump is preferably reversed immediately or after a predetermined time has passed. This ensures that the liquid to be inspected collected through the buffer flow path flows into the buffer space. In this buffer space, the liquid to be inspected collected from a plurality of containers is mixed, or the liquid to be inspected collected from one container is surely prevented from being returned to another container. can do. Sensors may be provided in all the buffer channels of the plurality of liquid collection channels, but a sensor is provided in at least one buffer channel of the liquid collection channels so that the liquid to be inspected is surely provided in all the liquid collection channels. In addition, the sensor installation location may be set at a position that reaches the inspection section of the inspection flow path and does not flow into the buffer space in any of the liquid collection flow paths.

  Thus, according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention, the liquid to be inspected contained in the container can be inspected easily, and the inspection can be automated or semi-automated without requiring complicated manual work. In addition, it is possible to inspect the liquids to be inspected contained in a plurality of containers at the same time, and when culturing microorganisms using a shaking culture apparatus, the progress of the culture is monitored by monitoring the progress of the culture. This is extremely useful when monitoring the situation. Here, the shake culture apparatus is an apparatus for culturing microorganisms in a culture solution in a culture container, for example, having an appropriate shaking mechanism for shaking one or a plurality of culture containers under predetermined conditions. is there.

  For example, a device for measuring the absorbance or light transmittance of a liquid to be inspected by installing a spectrophotometer having a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion arranged with the inspection portion of the inspection flow channel interposed therebetween as the inspection mechanism portion By inserting or connecting the liquid collection pipe of this apparatus into a culture container such as a flask set in the shake culture apparatus, the inspection apparatus can be used as a culture monitor unit of the shake culture apparatus. . By configuring in this way, the culture medium during the culture operation is sucked and collected from the culture vessel into the inspection part of the inspection channel as described above, and the light transmittance is measured to measure the turbidity of the culture liquid. Then, by returning the culture solution collected after the measurement to the culture vessel again, the progress of the culture can be inspected and monitored from the turbidity of the culture solution during the culture operation. Moreover, as described above, there is no need for a complicated operation such as manually collecting the culture solution or removing the culture vessel from the shaking culture apparatus, and without requiring a special culture vessel. Inspection can be performed automatically or semi-automatically.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, by providing a plurality of liquid collection channels as described above, even when culturing simultaneously in a plurality of culture vessels by changing conditions such as the composition of the culture solution, each culture solution is cultured at the same time. The degree of progress can be inspected and monitored.

  In addition, by programming a test schedule in the computer as described above, the turbidity of the culture solution is automatically measured at predetermined intervals, and the progress of the culture is automatically monitored for a predetermined period of time. Thus, the culture state can be monitored without any need, and in some cases, the inspection and monitoring operation during the culture can be almost unmanned.

  Furthermore, in this case, a control unit is provided for controlling the stop / start of the shaking operation by the shaking mechanism unit of the shaking culture apparatus and the start / stop of the test operation by the culture monitor unit comprising the test apparatus. When performing a test after collecting the culture solution, the shaking operation of the culture vessel is temporarily stopped automatically by the control of this control unit, and the shaking operation is automatically restarted after the test is completed. In this way, it is possible to effectively prevent inconveniences such as air bubbles from being mixed in the collected culture medium, and to perform a better inspection with certainty. When such a control unit is provided, the inspection may be automated by programming the above-described inspection schedule in the control unit.

As described above, according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention, the inspection process of collecting the inspection liquid from the predetermined container, performing the predetermined inspection, and returning the inspection liquid after inspection to the container is a complicated manual operation. Therefore, the inspection can be performed easily and efficiently, and the inspection can be automated or semi-automated.
Therefore, when this inspection apparatus is used as a culture monitor part of a shaking culture apparatus, the concentration of bacteria in the culture solution can be easily measured without requiring a complicated operation, and a complicated manual operation is required. In addition, the measurement can be automated or semi-automated, and the reduction of the culture efficiency due to the measurement can be prevented as much as possible, and the progress of the culture can be well monitored during the shaking culture of the microorganism.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, an Example is shown and this invention is demonstrated more concretely.
FIG. 1 shows a shaking culture apparatus provided with an inspection apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention as a culture monitor unit. As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection apparatus 1 constituting the culture monitoring unit of this shaking culture apparatus includes four collection pipes 3 for sucking and collecting the culture solution from each of the four culture vessels 2, and the collected culture solution. And a pump p capable of reversing forward and reverse to suck the culture solution into the inspection box 4 and return the culture solution to each culture vessel 2 after the measurement operation. is doing.

  The liquid collection pipe 3 may be made of any material as long as it has flexibility. Here, in FIG. 1, for convenience, the lengths of the four liquid collection pipes 3 are long and short. However, in actuality, these liquid collection pipes 3 are all adjusted to the same length, and the inner space is cut off. The four areas are also set to the same area, and all of the culture solution collected through the four collection pipes 3 by the suction operation of the pump p is introduced into the inspection box 4 almost simultaneously. ing.

  Further, the inspection box 4 is a dark room that is shielded from outside light, and as shown in FIG. 2, the inside of the inspection box 4 is composed of four pipes made of a light-transmitting material such as glass. The inspection flow path 5 is disposed corresponding to each of the four liquid collection pipes 3. As shown in FIG. 2, each pipe constituting the inspection flow path 5 penetrates the inspection box 4 and protrudes from the inspection box 4 at both ends. 3 are connected. In addition, each pipe constituting the inspection flow path 5 has both ends processed to have a small diameter, but the small diameter portion is formed by a drawing process with a rounded shape, and there is no corner inside the culture medium. Is distributed smoothly without stagnation.

  Inside the inspection box 4, as shown in FIG. 2, a light emitter 6a and a light receiver 6b are arranged above and below the inspection flow paths 5, respectively. A part of the inspection flow path 5 sandwiched between the containers 6b is an inspection section 5a. The light emitted from the light emitter 6a passes through the inspection portion 5a of the inspection channel 5 and is received by the light receiver 6b, thereby measuring the light transmittance of the culture solution introduced into the inspection channel 5. It is supposed to be. In this case, when the pipe constituting the inspection portion 5a of the inspection flow path 5 is a circular tube, the light emitter 6a is configured to irradiate light accurately toward the center in order to prevent scattering and polarization of irradiation light. It is preferable to install.

  Here, in order to reliably prevent such scattering and polarization of the irradiation light, the inspection portion 5a of the inspection flow path 5 may be partially formed in a quadrangular cross section, or the inspection flow path 5 may be formed of a square pipe. Good. However, when the portion having a square cross section exists in the inspection flow path 5 in this way, the culture fluid flowing through the inside tends to stay in the corner portion, and the reliability of the inspection may decrease due to the residual liquid. Moreover, the pipe which comprises the test | inspection flow path 5 should just have favorable light transmittance, and a normal glass tube etc. can be used, but depending on the wavelength of the measurement light used for a measurement, scattering or It may be necessary to use quartz glass to prevent polarization. In this case, only the inspection part 5a may be formed of quartz glass.

  Reference numeral 6c in FIG. 1 is an inspection circuit unit that performs power supply to the light emitter 6a, control of light emission operation, control for recognizing light captured by the light receiver 6b as an electrical signal, and the like. The inspection circuit section 6c, the light emitter 6a, and the light receiver 6b constitute a spectrophotometer, and this spectrophotometer is an inspection mechanism section of the present inspection apparatus.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a buffer channel 7 made of an appropriate pipe is connected to the other end of each test channel 5 protruding from the test box 4. As shown, the four buffer flow paths 7 are connected to the pump p through the collecting adapter 8a.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the collective adapter 8 a is a short-axis cylindrical member whose both end faces are closed, and in which a buffer space portion 8 is formed. Four through holes communicating with the buffer space 8 are formed on one end surface of the collective adapter 8a, and four pipes that form the buffer flow path 7 are connected to the four through holes, respectively. In addition, one through hole communicating with the buffer space 8 is formed on the other end surface of the collective adapter 8a, and the suction pipe 9 connected to the pump p is connected to the through hole. As a result, by operating the pump p, the four liquid collection channels including the liquid collection pipe 3, the inspection flow channel 5 and the buffer flow channel 7 are formed via the buffer space 8 of the collective adapter 8a. Each is sucked / pressurized equally.

  Any pump can be used as long as it can be reversed in the forward and reverse directions. However, from the characteristics that forward and reverse reversal is easy and the pump can be stopped accurately with a predetermined suction / discharge amount. A peristaltic pump (handling pump) that performs suction / discharge by swinging the flexible tube by handling with a plurality of rollers is preferably used, and this peristaltic pump is also used in this example.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the pump p has a flexible tube 11 arranged in a loop shape along the outer periphery of the disk 10 that is rotated in a forward and reverse manner by a motor drive. A peristaltic pump in which four handling rollers 12 that are rotatable at the periphery are displaced by 90 ° from each other in a state where the flexible tube 11 is crushed, and one end portion of the flexible tube 11 serves as the suction pipe 9. It is connected to the buffer space 8 of the collective adapter 8a.

  In the peristaltic pump p, when the disk 10 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4, each handling roller 12 handles the flexible tube 11 in the clockwise direction, whereby the suction pipe 9 and the buffer space 8. Then, the inside of each liquid collection flow path composed of the liquid collection pipe 3, the inspection flow path 5 and the buffer flow path 7 is sucked, and the culture liquid in the culture vessel 2 is sucked and collected in each liquid collection flow path. Then, by stopping the rotation of the disk 10, the suction of the culture medium can be stopped accurately, and the sucked culture medium can be reliably held in the collecting channel as it is. Further, by rotating the disk 10 counterclockwise in FIG. 4 from this state, each handling roller 12 handles the flexible tube 11 counterclockwise, whereby the suction pipe 9 and the buffer space 8 are interposed. Thus, the inside of each of the liquid collection channels is pressurized, and the culture solution collected in the interior flows backward and is returned to the culture vessel 2.

  Here, reference numeral 13 in FIG. 1 is a sensor that detects the culture fluid that has flowed to a predetermined location in the buffer flow path 7, and stops the peristaltic pump p when the culture fluid is detected by the sensor 13. As a result, the suction operation can be surely stopped in a state where all the inspection sections 5a provided in the four inspection flow paths 5 are filled with the culture medium, and the culture liquid flows into the buffer space section 8. Thus, it is possible to reliably prevent contamination caused by mixing culture solutions collected from a plurality of culture vessels.

  In this case, as described above, the four liquid collection pipes 3 are arranged to have the same length and cross-sectional area, and the four inspection channels 5 and the buffer channels 7 have the same length and cross-sectional area. In addition, the four liquid collection channels including the liquid collection pipe 3, the inspection flow path 5, and the buffer flow path 7 are sucked through the buffer space 8 evenly. The culture fluid is sucked from each culture vessel into each of the four collection channels at almost the same speed, and flows into the inspection channel 5 from the collection pipe 3 almost at the same time, even if there is some difference. It passes through the flow path 5 and reaches a predetermined position of the buffer flow path 7 almost simultaneously. Therefore, the sensor 13 does not need to be provided in all the four buffer flow paths 7, and the culture medium may be detected by any one of the buffer flow paths 7. However, when the state of the culture solution changes between the culture vessels 2, there may be a slight difference in the suction rate of the culture solution in each collection channel. In order to absorb water, the length of the buffer flow path 7 is sufficiently secured, and the culture solution reaches the buffer flow path 7 in all the liquid collection flow paths and is in a state before flowing into the buffer space 8 Just stop at. Furthermore, a reservoir portion capable of accumulating a certain amount of culture solution in each collection channel 7 may be provided to absorb the difference in suction speed.

  Next, reference numeral 14 in FIG. 1 indicates start / stop of the pump p and the shaking mechanism unit, control of the inspection circuit unit of the spectrophotometer and processing of the inspection signal, processing of the culture medium detection signal by the sensor 13, and the like. This is a control unit that is integrated. This control unit can automatically or semi-automatically inspect the culture solution according to a preset sensor program or by an operator's operation as needed.

  Reference numeral 15 in FIG. 1 is a computer externally connected to the control unit 14, and the computer schedules the inspection schedule to the control unit 14 by the computer or controls the control unit 14 with the computer. Inspection can be automatically performed. Furthermore, it is possible to record the measurement result by the spectrophotometer in this computer and analyze the data.

  The shaking culture apparatus main body 16 for culturing microorganisms is provided with a shaking table for placing and fixing a culture container such as a flask in a constant temperature bath, and a shaking mechanism for shaking the shaking table. The shake culture apparatus of this example is configured by attaching the inspection apparatus 1 as a culture monitor section to this known shake culture apparatus.

  This shaking culture apparatus can perform culture while collecting the culture solution in the culture vessel in the inspection apparatus 1 during the culture of microorganisms, inspecting the progress of the culture, and monitoring the progress of the culture. Is. The operation will be described below.

  When culturing microorganisms with this shaking culture apparatus, first, the culture solution inoculated with the inoculum is accommodated in a culture container 2 such as a flask, and this culture container 2 is installed in a thermostat of the shaking culture apparatus main body 16. While being placed and fixed on a shaking table, the liquid collection pipe 3 of the inspection apparatus 1 is inserted or connected to the culture vessel 2. In this state, microorganisms are cultured while maintaining the inside of the thermostatic chamber at a predetermined temperature and shaking the culture vessel 2 at a predetermined speed. In this case, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, four culture vessels 2 can be set on the shaking culture apparatus main body 16 at a time and cultured at the same time. Or 2-4 different microorganisms can be cultured at the same time.

  And when inspecting the progress degree of culture | cultivation, the control part 14 is operated or a test | inspection is started via the control part 14 by the command from a computer. When the inspection is started, first, the shaking mechanism of the shaking culture device 16 is controlled by the command of the control unit 14 to stop the shaking operation, and the pump p is activated to start the suction pipe 9 and the buffer space. The inside of each liquid collection flow path composed of each liquid collection pipe 3, the inspection flow path 5 and the buffer flow path 7 is sucked through the section 8. As a result, the culture solution is sucked from each culture vessel 2 to each inspection device 1 through each collection pipe 3, flows into the test flow channel 5, passes through the test flow channel 5, and flows into the buffer flow channel 7. When the culture solution reaches a predetermined position in the buffer channel 7, the sensor 13 detects this. Upon receiving this detection signal, the control unit 14 immediately stops the pump p to stop the suction operation of the culture solution, and the light transmittance of the culture solution collected in the inspection unit 5a of the inspection channel 5 is measured by a spectrophotometer. measure. In this case, the culture solution can be collected while the shaking operation is performed, but the culture solution is collected with the shaking operation stopped as described above from the viewpoint of suppressing the mixing of bubbles as much as possible. Is preferred.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the light transmittance is measured by transmitting predetermined light from the light emitter 6 a disposed below the inspection channel 5 in the inspection box 4 to the inspection unit 5 a of the inspection channel 5. Is measured, and the light transmitted through the culture solution filled in the inspection portion 5a is received by the light receiver 6b disposed above the inspection flow path 5 to measure the light transmittance. Yes, the result is recorded in the computer 15 via the control unit 14.

  After completion of the measurement, the pump p is reversed and activated by an instruction from the control unit 14, and each liquid collection flow path including the liquid collection pipe 3, the inspection flow path 5, and the buffer flow path 7 through the suction pipe 9 and the buffer space 8. The inside is pressurized, and the culture solution collected in each inspection channel flows backward and is returned from the collection pipe 3 to each culture vessel 2, and the shaking mechanism is activated again according to the command of the control unit 14. Shaking culture is resumed.

  Then, the above operation is repeated at any time or at predetermined intervals, the light transmittance of the culture solution in each culture vessel 2 is measured, and the change in the turbidity of the culture solution is monitored, thereby culturing while monitoring the progress of the culture. It can be performed. In this case, by previously programming a test schedule in the computer 15, the test can be completely automated at predetermined intervals, thereby making it possible to completely unmanned microorganism culture.

  As described above, according to the inspection apparatus 1, by inserting or connecting the liquid collection pipe 3 to the culture container 2 containing the culture liquid as the liquid to be inspected, the container 2 and the culture liquid are It is possible to collect, inspect, and return the culture solution by simply starting / reversing the pump p without the need for the operation of the above, and measuring the light transmittance of the culture solution automatically or semi-automatically. The degree of progress can be inspected. In addition, the above inspection can be completely automated by the computer 15 and the control unit 14 performing the start / reverse / stop of the pump p, the operation / control of the spectrophotometer as the inspection mechanism unit, and the recording of the inspection result. Further, by programming a test schedule in the computer 15, the above test is automatically performed at a predetermined interval, and the progress of the culture can be automatically monitored for a predetermined period.

  Furthermore, four liquid collection channels comprising the above-mentioned liquid collection pipe 3, test channel 5 and buffer channel 7 are provided, and the culture solution is collected from the four culture vessels 2 at the same time, and the light transmittance is measured. Since the culture solution is returned to the container 2, the light transmittance can be automatically or semi-automatically measured for each culture solution contained in the four culture vessels. In this case, four culture fluid channels are connected to one pump p via the buffer space 8 so that the culture fluid is simultaneously sucked from the four culture vessels through each fluid fluid channel by one pump p. Collect and measure the light transmittance of each culture solution at the same time, and return the liquid to be tested to each container, and it is relatively inexpensive and simple without having an expensive mechanism or complicated control mechanism. A plurality of inspections can be performed simultaneously by the mechanism. Furthermore, in this case, in this example inspection apparatus, a sensor 13 for detecting the culture solution is provided in the buffer channel 7 constituting the sample collection channel, and when the culture solution is detected by the sensor 13, the pump Since the pump p is stopped after the suction operation of p is stopped and the light transmittance is measured, it is ensured that the aspirated culture solution flows into the buffer space 8 through the buffer channel 7. To prevent the culture solution collected from a plurality of containers from being mixed in the buffer space 8 or the culture solution collected from one container from being returned to another container. In addition, each culture solution can be reliably collected in the inspection section 5a of the inspection flow path 5 and the light transmittance can be reliably measured.

  Thus, according to the inspection apparatus 1 of this example, the culture solution accommodated in the culture vessel 2 can be easily inspected, and the inspection can be automated or semi-automated without requiring complicated manual work. In addition, the culture solution stored in the plurality of containers 2 can be tested simultaneously. Moreover, there is no need for complicated operations such as manually collecting the culture solution or removing the culture vessel 2 from the shaking culture apparatus, and without requiring a special culture vessel, either automatically or semi-automatically. Can be inspected automatically. Therefore, the shaking culture apparatus of the present example provided with the inspection apparatus 1 as a culture monitoring unit can cultivate the culture progress very effectively without requiring complicated work and reducing the culture efficiency. The microorganisms can be efficiently cultured while monitoring the progress of the culture and monitoring the progress of the culture.

  As described above, according to the present inspection apparatus 1, when culturing microorganisms with a shaking culture apparatus, the concentration of bacteria in the culture solution can be easily measured without requiring a complicated operation, The measurement can be automated or semi-automated without complicated manual work, and the reduction of culture efficiency due to measurement can be prevented as much as possible, and the progress of the culture is excellent during the shaking culture of microorganisms. Can be monitored.

  In addition, the test | inspection apparatus and shake culture apparatus of this invention are not limited to the said Example, You may change suitably, unless it deviates from the summary of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, four liquid collection channels each including the liquid collection pipe 3, the inspection flow channel 5, and the buffer flow channel 7 are provided, and the four liquid collection channels are sucked / pressurized by one pump p. However, the number of the collection channels may be 3 or less, or 5 or more. When a large number of collection channels are provided, a plurality of the collection channels are combined in the buffer space to form a single pump. A plurality of connected sets may be provided. Further, in the above embodiment, the computer 15 is circumscribed by the control unit 14 to record and analyze the inspection schedule program and the inspection results. However, a simple computer with a limited function for the intended inspection is used as the control unit. 14 may be incorporated, or the computer may be omitted and the operator may directly control the pump p and the shaking mechanism.

  Furthermore, in the said Example, although the test | inspection mechanism part was comprised with the spectrophotometer provided with the light emitter 6a and the light receiver 6b, and it was set as the test | inspection apparatus which measures the light transmittance of a culture solution, a test object is a culture solution. It is not limited, and it is possible to inspect various liquid substances, and the inspection mechanism is not limited to a spectrophotometer, and by configuring an appropriate inspection mechanism, an inspection flow path In the inspection section, various inspections (for example, pH measurement, color tone measurement, etc.) can be performed on the liquid to be inspected.

  Furthermore, the material and shape of the inspection flow path, the inspection mechanism section, the buffer space section, the type of pump, the configuration of the shaker incubator main body, and the like may be changed as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is this schematic which shows the test | inspection apparatus concerning one Example of this invention, and the shaking culture apparatus provided with this test | inspection apparatus. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the test | inspection flow path part which comprises the same test | inspection apparatus. The buffer space part which comprises the inspection apparatus is shown, (A) is a top view, (B) is sectional drawing along the XX line of (A). It is a top view which shows the pump which comprises the inspection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Inspection device (culture monitor)
2 Culture containers (containers)
3 Collection pipe 4 Inspection box 5 Inspection flow path 5a Inspection section 6a Light emitter (light emitting section)
6b Receiver (receiver)
6c Inspection circuit part 7 Buffer flow path 8 Buffer space part 9 Suction pipe 13 Sensor 14 Control part 15 Computer

Claims (6)

A liquid collection pipe that is inserted or connected to a container in which the liquid to be inspected is stored and sucks and collects the liquid to be inspected;
An inspection flow path that is in communication with the liquid collection pipe and is provided with an inspection unit that performs a predetermined inspection on the liquid to be inspected introduced from the liquid collection pipe in a part of the flow path;
An inspection mechanism unit that performs a predetermined inspection on the liquid to be inspected in the inspection unit;
A pump capable of reversing forward and reverse connected to the inspection flow path via a buffer flow path,
By the suction operation of the pump, the inspection liquid is sucked and collected into the inspection flow path through the liquid collection pipe, and the inspection mechanism is collected with respect to the inspection liquid collected in the inspection portion in the inspection flow path In the inspection apparatus that performs a predetermined inspection by the unit, reverses the pump, and returns the liquid to be inspected in the liquid collection flow path including the liquid collection pipe, the test flow path, and the buffer flow path to the container.
A plurality of liquid collection flow paths including the liquid collection pipe, the inspection flow path, and the buffer flow path are provided, each liquid collection flow path is connected to the pump via the buffer space, and each liquid flow path is connected by one pump. An inspection apparatus configured to suck and collect a liquid to be inspected from a plurality of containers, perform a predetermined inspection on each of the liquids to be inspected simultaneously, and return the liquid to be inspected to each container.   The inspection unit is formed of a light-transmitting material, and the inspection mechanism unit is a spectrophotometer including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit arranged with the inspection unit interposed therebetween. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein absorbance or light transmittance is measured.   A sensor is provided for detecting that the liquid to be inspected has arrived at a predetermined location of the buffer flow path. When the liquid to be inspected is detected by the sensor, the suction operation of the pump is stopped and the pump is immediately or after a predetermined time has elapsed. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inspection apparatus is configured to be inverted.   The inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a culture solution in which microorganisms are being cultured is collected as the solution to be inspected, and the progress of the culture is inspected by measuring the turbidity thereof.   5. A shaking culture apparatus that houses a plurality of culture containers, shakes the culture containers under predetermined conditions, and cultures microorganisms in a culture solution in the culture container. A shaking culture apparatus configured to perform culture while monitoring the progress of the culture by inspecting the turbidity of the culture solution using the culture monitor unit.   The control unit controls the stop / start of the shaking operation and the start / stop of the test operation by the culture monitor unit, and the control unit stops the shake operation and starts the test operation by the culture monitor unit. Inspecting the progress of the culture by collecting the culture solution from each culture vessel, returning the collected culture solution to each culture vessel, stopping the inspection operation and restarting the shaking operation arbitrarily. The culture apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the culture apparatus is configured to automatically perform at a set predetermined interval.

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