JP4145338B2 - Blood collection tube opening block and opening device using the same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the opening of a blood collection tube in order to suppress secondary infection due to scattering of blood as a specimen and contamination between specimens.

Various blood collection tubes are used for blood collection in clinical examinations. Recently, a plastic blood collection tube that is lighter than glass and does not break even if dropped is mainly used.

The blood collection tube and its stopper will be described with reference to FIGS. The resin blood collection tube 1 is formed by coating a resin with a resin bottomed tube 11 having a flange 12 on the outer periphery of a circular opening 13 and a metal foil such as an aluminum foil, and a blood collection needle 41 (FIG. 3) at the center thereof. The plug member 2 has a tab 22 provided on a part of the outer periphery of the resin coating. The tab 22 becomes a knob portion when the cap is manually opened. The blood collection tube 1 is called a vacuum blood collection tube in which the plug 2 is bonded to the opening 13 of the resin bottomed tube 11 by a method such as heat welding in a state where the internal pressure is reduced. Here, a resin blood collection tube and a decompressed vacuum blood collection tube are also included in the blood collection tube 1, and a resin film is used regardless of whether the resin is coated on a metal foil, and a rubber member in the center. The plug body 21 is referred to as a film seal type plug body 2. Unless otherwise specified, when the plug body is used, the film seal type plug body 2 is referred to.

The blood collection holder will be described with reference to FIG. At the time of blood collection for performing a blood test, the blood collection tube 1 is used as the vacuum blood collection tube 1 in a reduced pressure state as described above. As shown in FIG. 3, at the time of blood collection, an injection needle as a blood collection needle 41 is attached to the blood collection holder 4 and the tip 42 of the blood collection needle 41 is inserted into a blood vessel (not shown), and then the vacuum blood collection tube 1 is collected. The blood collecting needle 41 is inserted into the holder 4 and the rear end 43 of the blood collecting needle 41 pierces the plug body 2 bonded to the opening 13 of the vacuum blood collecting tube 1 to connect the inside of the blood vessel and the vacuum blood collecting tube 1. Since the vacuum blood collection tube 1 is decompressed, the blood 3 automatically flows into the vacuum blood collection tube 1 to collect blood. Blood collection is completed by retracting the vacuum blood collection tube 1 from the blood collection tube holder 4 and withdrawing the rear end 43 of the blood collection needle 41 from the plug 2. The stopper 2 is impermeable to air, and is configured so that the blood collection needle 41 can be pierced by the rubber member 21 and the airtightness can be maintained even after the blood collection needle 41 is removed. Some blood collection tubes 1 differ in the diameter of the opening 13 and the length of the bottomed tube 11, but the size of the flange 12 of the opening 13 of the bottomed tube 11 and the size of the rubber member 21 are common. In addition, blood can be collected with one kind of blood collection holder 4 in order to stabilize the blood collection operation.

  In the blood test operation, at the laboratory level, the operator manually picks and opens the tab 22 of the plug body 2, but the inside of the blood collection tube 1 is slightly decompressed even if blood is collected. When the film 2 is peeled off, the pressure is instantaneously removed, and the blood is scattered to the outside, or by manual work, there is a risk of contamination of other specimens by blood and secondary infection to workers. Hereinafter, the term “specimen” means blood unless otherwise specified.

It has been proposed to automate the blood collection tube opening work in order to eliminate the risk of contamination of the work environment and secondary infection due to such manual work and to improve the efficiency of blood tests.
Opening the stopper of the blood collection tube with a hollow punch, and processing the punched piece in a reduced pressure space (Patent Document 1), bonding the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape to the surface of the stopper of the blood collection tube For example, there is a method of peeling off and opening the plug that seals the blood collection tube opening by pulling the adhesive tape (Patent Document 2).
Patent Publication 6-64688 Patent Publication 9-24038

In recent years, the performance of analytical instruments has been improved, the accuracy of analysis has improved, and if even a small amount of other substances such as specimens other than the specimen is mixed in the specimen blood, the test result is the substance. It may be different and lead to misdiagnosis.
When using a jig such as a cutter that has opened the blood collection tube to open the next blood collection tube, the specimen when the previous blood collection tube is opened adheres to the jig, and the next blood collection tube is opened. There is also a possibility of contamination between so-called specimens that contaminate the specimen in the blood collection tube at the time of plugging. Therefore, as a blood collection tube opening mechanism that can further suppress contamination of the specimen, there is a method in which an opening cutter that punches the plug is replaced for each blood collection tube (Patent Document 3). According to the application, it is equipped with a plug cutter and a cutter holder that punches the lid, which is a plug body, and the plug cutter is attached to the plug cutter holder, the plug body is punched out, and the plug body portion is punched and opened. Hold the needle separately provided on the cutter holder, move the needle forward and backward, discard the punched plug body, and also remove the opening cutter from the opening cutter holder. It is a mechanism that replaces things. By this method, contamination of the specimen can be further suppressed.
Patent Publication 2005-206180

However, in the above invention, since the needle holding the punched plug portion is not replaced for each blood collection tube, the specimen adheres to the needle pierced with the blood collection tube plug, and the next time the blood collection tube is opened. There is a risk of contamination between specimens because the needle to which the specimen is attached pierces the stopper and touches the specimen later to contaminate the specimen. Hereinafter, the needle is referred to as a holding means or a holding pin.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to provide a blood collection tube opening device that can further suppress contamination between specimens.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the opening block is provided with an opening means for opening the plug body of the blood collection tube and a holding means for holding the plug body portion that has been opened. One opening block is replaced every time, and the opening block used for opening is discarded to suppress contamination between samples.

In other words, the first invention is a blood collection tube opening device having a film seal type plug body, which opens the plug body of the blood collection tube and holds the opened plug body portion. When opening and closing the chuck for gripping the-opening stopper block, and a closing chuck control means for controlling the open-closed chuck grips the unplugging block closing chuck is moved to the feed position, followed by unplugging block gripped by opening and closing the chuck is moved to the cap removal position to open the plug block is unplugging the plug member of the blood collection tube, holding the plug opening has been plug portion unplugging block was further grasping the unplugging block open closed chuck is moved to the waste position, a cap removal device, characterized in that disengaging the cap removal block from closing the chuck.

The opening block is provided with means for opening the plug of the blood collection tube and means for holding the plug part that has been opened. The term “opened plug part” refers to the fact that the plug that seals the bottomed tube is not peeled off and opened, but a part of the plug is cut and opened. This is because the opening block holds a part of the cut plug body. At a supply position in which a plurality of opening blocks are placed side by side on a feeder or the like, one opening block is held by an opening / closing chuck and moved to an opening position with a blood collection tube. At the opening position, the opening block opens the plug of the blood collection tube, and the opening block holds the plug portion that has been opened. The opening block holding the plug body part is moved to the disposal position while the opening / closing chuck holds the opening block, the opening block is detached from the opening / closing chuck, and discarded together with the opened plug body part. Control means for opening and closing the chuck is not only the movement of opening and closing the chuck, and controls also the gripping and withdrawal etc. unplugging block. The supply position is the position where the open / close chuck grips the plug block, the open position is the position where the open block held by the open / close chuck opens the plug of the blood collection tube, and the discard position is the open / close chuck Refers to the position where the opening block is removed. The position of each position is not necessarily on the same plane. As a method of gripping the opening block by the opening / closing chuck, there is a method of gripping this portion by providing a gripping portion of the opening / closing chuck on the opening block, or holding the opening block with the outer wall interposed therebetween. It doesn't matter how to do it. It is an opening device that functions as a disposable opening block that opens a single blood collection tube using one opening block and discards it once it is used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an opening block used in the opening device pierces a plug cutter that opens the plug body and a plug body portion opened on the axis of the cylinder in a cylinder having a bottom surface. A holding pin that is held perpendicularly to the bottom surface, and a cylindrical gripping portion that is attached to the back surface of the bottom surface of the opening portion so that the opening / closing chuck holds the opening block. An opening block characterized by that.

An opening block is provided with an opening cutter as means for opening the stopper of the blood collection tube and a holding pin as means for holding the stopper portion that has been opened. In the opening portion of the opening block, an opening cutter and a holding pin are provided perpendicular to the bottom surface in the cylinder. This is because the bottom of the cylinder and the stopper of the blood collection tube are substantially horizontal and parallel to each other when the stopper is opened, so that the stopper cutter and the holding pin are perpendicular to the stopper. A holding pin pierces a rubber member for piercing a blood collection needle in the central portion of the plug, and then punches the plug with a plug cutter, and the holding pin holds the punched plug portion. The term “punched” or “punched” is used to cut the plug cutter so that it is pushed into the plug body. This is equivalent to opening the plug, and the punched plug body portion is opened. It is the same meaning as the plug part that is plugged. The opening portion and the grip portion are provided on opposite sides of the bottom surface as the partition wall. The opening portion is a cylinder to match the blood collection tube. The gripping portion on the opposite side of the opening portion with respect to the bottom surface only needs to have a shape that can be easily gripped by the opening / closing chuck, and need not be limited to a cylinder. However, the gripping portion can also be a cylinder and can have the same diameter as the opening portion cylinder.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the outer opening portion, the opening cutter is concentric with the cylinder, the tip thereof is a saw blade shape, and the holding pin is a saw blade shape of the opening cutter with respect to the bottom surface. It is the opening block of invention 2 characterized by making it longer than the length of the front-end | tip part.

First, the holding pin pierces the rubber member of the plug body, holds the plug body portion to be punched, and then punches and opens the plug body with a plug cutter, but the punched plug portion does not fall into the specimen It is to make it. For this purpose, the holding pin is made longer than the opening cutter, and the holding pin is brought into contact with the plug body before the opening cutter to pierce the rubber member. The opening cutter has a saw blade shape because the opening cutter may be integrally formed by injection molding at the same time as the cylindrical part without using a metal blade for the opening cutter. This is because the plug body is punched and cut according to the shape. In addition, by using a saw blade shape, the reduced pressure state in the blood collection tube can be gradually relaxed, and scattering of the specimen can be prevented.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the opening block according to the second or third aspect, wherein the distal end portion of the cylinder of the opening portion covers the flange portion of the blood collection tube opening.

By fitting the outer wall of the flange part and the tip of the cylindrical part of the opening part, the specimen is prevented from being scattered outside the bottomed tube, and the opening block is discarded even if the specimen is attached. This is because the specimen in the next blood collection tube is not contaminated. The blood collection tube opening is also the opening of the bottomed tube, and the blood collection tube flange is also the bottomed tube flange.

A fifth invention is the opening block according to any one of the inventions 2 to 4, wherein a rib is attached to the inner periphery or the outer periphery of the cylindrical tip portion of the grip portion so as to be easily gripped by the opening / closing chuck.

By attaching the rib, the opening and closing pin of the opening and closing chuck stops at the rib portion, and the opening block is prevented from dropping from the opening and closing chuck. The reason why the inner end or the outer periphery of the cylindrical tip portion is used is that the opening / closing chuck may grip the cylindrical inner wall of the opening portion in pressure contact or may sandwich the outer wall.

Regarding the third to fifth inventions, any one of the inventions may be used alone, or a plurality of any of the inventions may be combined, and all the inventions may be combined to form the opening block according to the second invention. it can.

A sixth invention is an opening device using the above various opening blocks. By using an opening block having an opening portion provided with a stopper opening means and an opening stopper portion holding means, and a gripping portion held by a grip opening / closing chuck, this opening device The invention can be implemented.

A seventh invention is a plug-opening device according to the first or sixth invention, wherein the open-close chuck has a plurality of open / close chucks.

In one movement of opening and closing the chuck by the opening and closing chuck a plurality communicated to grip a plurality of unplugging blocks, it is possible to unplugging the plurality of blood collection tube, to improve the efficiency of cap removal work It is.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a blood collection tube opening device according to any one of the first, sixth, and seventh aspects, wherein the blood collection tube is programmed to continuously operate the blood collection tube opening operation. Opening system.

This plugging device fixes the plugging block to the supply position, grips the plugging block with the opening / closing chuck, moves the opening / closing chuck to the opening position where the blood collection tube is fixed, opens the blood collection tube, A series of operations of moving and closing the opening block holding the opened plug body part to the disposal position is performed continuously. However, in order to perform this series of operations continuously, move and place the opening block to the supply position, move and fix the blood collection tube to the opening position, check the opening, and open / close chuck positions. It is necessary to link with work such as position confirmation. The opening device is operated continuously by an opening system programmed to coordinate these operations.

With the advancement of analytical instruments, it is necessary to avoid contamination of blood as a sample as much as possible. The present invention is a plug-opening device that makes a plug-opening block equipped with a plug-opening cutter and a holding pin disposable, and it is possible to suppress contamination between specimens more than in conventional plug-opening devices. Can be improved and is expected to be widely adopted.

The present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the opening block 5. The actual usage is upside down. An opening cutter 53 is provided concentrically with the cylinder in the cylinder of the opening portion 51, and a holding pin 54 is erected on the center thereof. With the bottom surface 58 as a reference, the length of the holding pin 54 is longer than the tip of the opening cutter 53. When opening the plug, first, the holding pin 54 pierces the rubber member 21 at the center of the plug body 2, and then the plug cutter 53 punches the plug body 2 to open the plug. The punched plug part 23 is held by the holding pin 54 and moved together with the opening block 5 and discarded. The tip of the opening cutter 53 has a saw blade shape. The grip part 52 on the opposite side of the opening part 51 with respect to the bottom surface 58 is also a cylinder. In FIG. 4, the diameters of the opening portion 51 and the gripping portion 52 are different from each other in order to match the size of the opening / closing chuck 6. It may be the same.

FIG. 5 is a view in which the holding pin 54 holds the punched plug body portion 23. Since the holding pin 54 holds the plug portion 23 that is punched through the rubber member 21 of the plug body that is not slippery, there is almost no fear of dropping, but the fall from the holding pin 54 is more reliably avoided. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, a holding pin 54 having a so-called stepped portion such as a retaining portion 55 can be used, or although not shown, a fine protrusion for preventing slipping is attached to the surface of the holding pin, or the holding pin It is also possible to attach a ring-shaped unevenness to the outer periphery of the. 5, 7, and 11, the tab 22 of the plug 2 is bent so as to contact the side surface of the bottomed tube 11.

FIG. 7 shows an opening block 5 in which a bottom face (partition wall) 58 is provided in the same cylinder and is divided into an opening portion 51 and a grip portion 52. The flange 12 of the bottomed tube 11 opening 13 is covered with the cylinder at the tip of the opening portion 51 of the opening block 5 to prevent the blood 3 as a specimen from being scattered outside the bottomed tube 11. Although not shown in the drawings, the inner diameter of the cylinder at the tip of the opening portion 51 can be recessed to fit the flange portion 12 of the bottomed tube 11.

FIG. 8 shows the opening block 5 for pressing and holding the opening / closing pin 61 of the opening / closing chuck 6 on the cylindrical inner wall of the gripping portion 52. It is controlled by the chuck control means. 9 with a rib 56 on the inner peripheral surface of the distal end portion of the grip portion 52, a cap removal block 5 so as not to fall from the cap removal block 5 is opened closed chuck. FIG. 10 shows the opening / closing chuck 6 in which the opening / closing pin 61 sandwiches the cylindrical outer wall of the gripping portion 52 and grips the opening block. More open closed chuck 6 can also be given a push-out pin 62, as shown in FIG. 8 to ensure separation of the unplugging block 5. The push pin is controlled by the opening / closing chuck control means in the same manner as the opening pin. For the same purpose, although not shown, a spring can be attached instead of the push pin.

The opening block 5 is disposable only once, and it is desired to manufacture it at low cost. The opening block can be manufactured at a relatively low cost by injection molding of a resin material. The stopper 2 of the blood collection tube 1 is a film seal type having a rubber member 21 in the center, and even if it is a resin-made stopper cutter 53, the shape thereof is a saw blade or the tip is made an acute angle. The stopper can be punched and opened, and the holding pin can be pierced with the rubber member by making the tip of the pin point. The opening block is disposable, and an opening block that can withstand the opening operation can be produced by injection molding of polypropylene or ABS, which are relatively inexpensive materials. However, the material and manufacturing method of the opening block are not limited to this.

FIG. 11 shows the movement of the opening block 5. In FIG. 11, detailed reference numerals are omitted. The open / close chuck 6 can be moved along the horizontal slider 9 and the vertical slider 10 by an open / close chuck control means (not shown). The opening block 5 is mounted on an opening block feeder 8. The opening block feeder 8 moves from the front surface of FIG. 11 toward the back surface. The opening / closing chuck 6 is lowered, and at the supply position, the opening / closing pin 61 enters the cylindrical gripping portion of the opening block 5, the opening / closing pin 61 opens, presses the inner wall, and grips the opening block 5 and moves up. To do.

Next, the capping block 5 held by the open / close chuck 6 moves horizontally and descends to the capping position where the blood collection tube 1 is fixed by the clamp 40, and punches the plug 2 of the blood collection tube 1. Then, the blood collection tube 1 is opened. The unblocking block 5 holding the punched plug part 23 is lifted and then moved downward to a disposal position where the unblocking block storage box 20 is prepared, and the opening / closing pin 61 of the opening / closing chuck 6 is closed and opened. The stopper block 5 is removed and discarded. The open / close chuck 6 grips the cylindrical inner surface of the grip portion 52 by pressure contact.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the positional relationship between the supply position, the opening position, and the disposal position. In FIG. 12, the open / close chuck 6 is at the disposal position. The open / close chuck moves to the supply position on the left side of FIG. The unblocking block 6 and the blood collection tube 1 are mounted on a 5-block plug block feeder 8 and a blood collection rack 7, respectively. The unblocking block feeder 8 and the blood collection rack 7 are arranged from the front surface to the back surface in FIG. It moves in conjunction with the movement of the open / close chuck 6.

In FIG. 12, it is also possible to open and close the open / close chuck 6 at a time for each rack of the blood collection tube 1 as a plurality of five continuous chucks. In this case, the shape of the opening block storage box 20 also changes.

FIG. 13 shows the positional relationship between the opening position and the opening confirmation sensor 30. Every five blood collection tubes 1 are mounted on the blood collection tube rack 7 and sent to the opening position. The blood collection rack 7 is stopped by a position sensor (not shown), and the blood collection tube 1 to be opened is fixed by the clamp 40. Subsequently, the opening and closing operation of the opening / closing chuck 6 as described above is performed. At the same time, the opening confirmation of the blood collection tube 1 previously opened is performed by the opening confirmation sensor 30. When the plug has not been opened by the plug-opening confirmation sensor 30, operations such as stopping the continuous operation or removing the blood collection tube 1 that has not been opened are performed by the opening system of the eighth invention. This is only an example of an opening system, and this opening system automatically performs the movement of the opening block, the movement of the blood collection tube, the opening operation, and the confirmation action thereof.

With the advancement of analytical instruments, the contamination of specimens in the inspection process must be suppressed as much as possible. This is especially true for blood used for clinical testing. Since the present invention uses a capping block as a disposable one in the capping operation for each blood collection tube and is low in cost, it can be used in the future.

Cross section of blood collection tube Top view of plug Blood collection tube and blood collection holder Opening block schematic Perforated plug body and holding pin Holding pin with clasp Opening block punches the plug of the blood collection tube Opening and closing chuck for gripping the cylindrical inner wall of the gripping part of the opening block Opening block with a rib attached to the inner periphery of the gripper cylinder tip Opening block with a rib attached to the outer periphery of the gripper cylinder tip Opening block movement and opening device Top view of each position of the opening block Blood collection tube moving system

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Blood collection tube 11 Bottomed tube 12 Flange part 13 Opening part 2 Plug body 21 Rubber member 22 Tab 23 Opened (punched) plug body part 3 specimen (blood)
4 Blood collection holder 41 Blood collection needle 42 Blood collection needle tip part 43 Blood collection needle rear end part 5 Opening block 51 Opening part 52 Holding part 53 Opening cutter
54 holding pin 55 (holding pin) retaining portion 56 (grip end) rib 58 bottom surface (partition wall)
6 Opening and closing chuck 61 Opening and closing pin 62 Extruding pin 7 Rack for blood collection tube 8 Feeder for opening block
9 Horizontal slider 10 Vertical slider 20 Opening block storage box 30 Opening confirmation sensor 40 Clamp

Claims (4)

An opening device for a blood collection tube having a film seal type stopper, the stopper for opening the stopper of the blood collection tube and holding the stoppered portion, and the opening block. and closing the chuck for gripping, and a closing chuck control means for controlling the open-closed chuck grips the unplugging block closing chuck is moved to the feed position, followed by holding the unplugging block closing chuck is opened Go to the plug position, opening stopper block is unplugging the plug member of the blood collection tube, the plug opening has been plug portion unplugging block holds, further unplugging blocks gripped open closed chuck disposal position Go and the cap removal device Ru is disengaged the unplugging block from closing the chuck, the open stopper block in a cylinder having a bottom surface, the cap removal on unplugging cutter and the cylindrical axis of unplugging the plug body Pierce the plug part A holding pin that is vertically attached to the bottom surface, and a cylindrical gripping portion that is attached to the back surface of the bottom surface of the opening portion so that the opening / closing chuck holds the opening block. The opening cutter of the opening portion is concentric with the cylinder, the tip of the opening cutter is a saw blade, and the holding pin is longer than the length of the saw blade of the opening cutter with respect to the bottom surface. An opening block characterized by that. 2. The opening block according to claim 1 , wherein the cylindrical tip portion of the opening portion covers the flange portion of the blood collection tube opening. The opening block according to any one of claims 1 to 2 , wherein a rib is attached to an inner periphery or an outer periphery of the cylindrical tip of the grip portion. 4. The opening device according to claim 1, wherein the opening block according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is used.

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