JP4223029B2 - Reagent container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reagent container.

Conventionally, a plurality of reagent containers used in an automatic analyzer are arranged in an open state along a circumferential direction on a mounting table rotatably provided in a reagent container of the automatic analyzer, and the mounting table is rotated to a dispensing position. The reagent is dispensed into the reaction vessel. At this time, in order to prevent the qualitative deterioration of the reagent, the automatic analyzer is normally kept at 5-10 ° C. in the reagent storage and in a low humidity state. For this reason, some conventional reagent containers have a special structure cap attached to the container in order to suppress evaporation of the contained reagent (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP-A-11-194132 JP 2004-177254 A

By the way, since the cap disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a structure in which the lid is pivoted upward in the lateral direction of the reagent container from the seal position, a space for pivoting the lid in the lateral direction is required. For this reason, the reagent container using the cap of Patent Document 1 requires a large space along the circumferential direction when it is to be used by being mounted on the automatic analyzer, and there is a problem that the automatic analyzer becomes large. It was.

On the other hand, the cap disclosed in Patent Document 2 does not have the problem as in Patent Document 1, but the sealing body that seals the opening of the container is pressed from above by an opening / closing member, and radially from the center. The sealing body is returned to its original state by opening the sealing body downward along the formed slits to release the pressing. At this time, the cap of Patent Document 2 is formed with an opening-shaped through-hole through which a sorting probe for separating the reagent is inserted at the center of the opening / closing member, and the center is opened. The sealing body in which the slit is formed is located. For this reason, when the reagent container using the cap of Patent Document 2 is mounted on an automatic analyzer and used, liquids such as condensed water in the reagent container and reagents in other reagent containers scatter from the top of the through hole. It may get inside. As a result, at the time of the next sorting, if the sealing body is pushed and opened downward by the opening / closing member, the liquid accumulated on the sealing body enters the container from the slit and causes contamination. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and when used in an automatic analyzer, even when condensed water in a reagent container or a liquid such as a reagent in another reagent container is scattered, it is difficult to enter the container. An object of the present invention is to provide a reagent container having a cap capable of reducing the occurrence of contamination.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the reagent container according to claim 1 is a reagent container provided with a cap that is attached to an open cylindrical portion of a main body that contains the reagent, An insertion tube portion that communicates with the opening tube portion, a fixing member that is attached to the opening tube portion, a sliding member that is slidably fitted to the fixing member, covers the fixing member, and slides relative to the fixing member Between the slide member having a undulating portion that is raised and lowered by the insertion tube portion in accordance with the operation, a seal member that is supported by the undulation portion and seals the opening of the insertion tube portion, and the fixing member and the slide member And a biasing member that biases the slide member in a direction away from the fixing member and applies a biasing force to seal the opening of the insertion tube portion to the seal member via the slide member; Comprising Said sealing member by sliding the id member to the stationary member side is erected together with the undulations by the insertion tube portion, sealing of the opening, characterized in that it is open.

In the reagent container according to claim 2, in the above invention, the insertion tube portion is provided with an engagement protrusion at a position facing the upper outer periphery across the tube center, and the undulating portion is a position facing each other. Further, a guide portion is provided for guiding the undulation of the undulating portion by engaging each of the engaging protrusions.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the reagent container according to the above invention, wherein the slide member is provided on an upper surface with an adjustment portion that adjusts a position of the slide member and an operation unit that slides the slide member toward the fixed member. It is characterized by.

The reagent container according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the undulating portion is provided with a positioning portion for determining a position for supporting the seal member.

The reagent container according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned invention, the undulating portion is formed thin and has a hinge as a center of the undulation.

The reagent container according to claim 6 is characterized in that, in the above invention, the insertion tube portion is provided with a plurality of contact portions on the outer periphery of the seal member that contact the lower periphery of the hinge side. To do.

The reagent container according to the present invention is supported by the undulating portion of the slide member, seals the opening of the insertion tube portion of the fixing member, and stands up together with the undulating portion by sliding the slide member toward the fixing member. Since the sealing member is provided to open the sealing of the opening of the insertion tube portion, when used in an automatic analyzer, liquid such as condensed water in the reagent storage or reagents in other reagent containers is scattered. In addition, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a reagent container provided with a cap that hardly enters the container and can reduce the occurrence of contamination.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the reagent container of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the reagent container of the present invention with the upper part of the reagent container and the cap taken as a cross section. FIG. 2 is a right half sectional front view of the fixing member constituting the cap. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the fixing member. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fixing member shown in FIG. 3 taken along line C1-C1.

The reagent container 1 is molded from a synthetic resin such as high-density polyethylene, and as shown in FIG. 1, a cap 2 is attached to an open cylindrical part 1b formed at the upper part of the main body 1a. The main body 1a is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, a flat surface portion 1c for attaching an information label to a part of the side surface is formed, and a male screw is formed on the outer periphery of the opening tube portion 1b. The information label records reagent information such as the type and expiration date of the reagent held in the reagent container 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cap 2 includes a fixing member 3, a slide member 4, a seal member 5, and a biasing member 6, and seals the open cylindrical portion 1 b of the reagent container 1 so as to be freely opened and closed.

The fixing member 3 is molded from a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, and as shown in FIGS.
An attachment portion 3a attached to the opening cylinder portion 1b of the reagent container 1 by screwing, a guide cylinder portion 3b connected to the attachment portion 3a, and an insertion cylinder portion arranged at the center of the guide cylinder portion 3b 3c. The adherend 3a has a knurled length 3d long enough to be rotated by a fingertip (see FIGS. 2 and 5).
Is processed on the outer periphery, and an internal thread is formed on the inner surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide tube portion 3b has an engaging portion 3e formed on the outer periphery of the upper portion. The insertion cylinder part 3c is a cylinder body whose lower part communicates with the opening cylinder part 1b and into which the dispensing probe of the automatic analyzer is inserted from above. The insertion tube portion 3c is
In order to prevent evaporation and alteration of the reagent contained in the reagent container 1 and intrusion of liquid from the outside,
The upper opening 3f is sealed by the seal member 5 so as to be freely opened and closed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the insertion tube portion 3 c is formed with a flat portion 3 g formed in parallel at mutually opposing portions. The flat surface portion 3g is provided with engagement protrusions 3h (see FIGS. 2 to 5) at positions facing the outer periphery of the upper portion with the tube center of the insertion tube portion 3c interposed therebetween. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the insertion tube portion 3 c is formed with a contact tube 3 j extending toward the adherend portion 3 a and contacting the inside of the opening tube portion 1 b on the entire lower end. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the insertion tube portion 3c is provided with two ribs 3k serving as contact portions on the outer periphery of the upper portion in the vicinity of the engagement protrusion 3h. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the insertion tube portion 3c has a protruding portion 3m whose upper outer periphery slightly protrudes upward between the two ribs 3k.
The upper inner peripheral portion is formed with a seal portion 3n slightly bulging inward over the entire periphery. The protruding portion 3m and the sealing portion 3n are formed on smooth surfaces having no steps because the lower surface of the sealing portion 5g of the sealing member 5 is in contact with the upper opening 3f.

The slide member 4 is a member that is molded from a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, is fitted to the fixing member 3 from above and is slidably attached in the vertical direction, and covers the upper portion of the fixing member 3.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9 to 15, the slide member 4 has a slide cylinder portion 4 on the outer periphery of the top plate 4 a.
b is vertically suspended. Here, in the slide member 4, the seal member 5 is supported by the undulating portion 4h. In order to clarify the structure of the slide member 4, the seal member 5 is shown in FIGS.
Only 3 is shown.

The top plate 4a is provided with protrusions 4c and 4d along the circumferential direction near the upper surface outer periphery. Ridge 4
c is formed longer than the protrusion 4d, and a plurality of radially adjusting position adjustment ribs 4e are continuously provided on the outer periphery of the protrusions 4c, 4d. As shown in FIG. 10, the plurality of position adjusting ribs 4e are provided on the same radius with the insertion hole 4i as the center.
Further, the top plate 4a has a undulating portion 4h formed at the center by a hinge portion 4f and an opening 4g in which a portion adjacent to the protrusion 4d is thinned. In the undulating portion 4h, an insertion hole 4i for inserting the seal member 5 is formed in the center. Here, the insertion hole 4i is provided with a recess 4j (see FIGS. 10 and 14) for positioning the seal member 5 on the opposite side of the hinge portion 4f. The undulation 4
h is a guide piece 4k for guiding the undulation of the undulating portion 4h to positions facing each other in the vicinity of the hinge portion 4f.
Is suspended. Further, the undulating portion 4h is provided with protrusions P arranged in the radial direction around the center of the insertion hole 4i on both sides of the lower surface between the hinge portion 4f and the insertion hole 4i.

The guide piece 4k is provided with a guide hole 4m (see FIGS. 13 and 15) with which the engaging protrusion 3h of the fixing member 3 is engaged. As shown in FIG. 15, the guide hole 4m is composed of a long hole Hh extending in the horizontal direction parallel to the top plate 4a and a long hole Hs inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. 2
As shown in FIG. 15, the two guide pieces 4k are provided at positions facing inclined grooves 4n that are deep at the lower edge and are inclined so as to become shallower as they approach the guide hole 4m. Further, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the undulating portion 4 h is provided with a slightly depressed recess 4 p between the hinge portion 4 f on the lower surface and the insertion hole 4 i. The concave portion 4p restricts the inclined portion 5k of the seal member 5 from contacting the lower surface of the undulating portion 4h when the sealing member 5 undulates together with the undulating portion 4h to open and close the upper opening 3f. Here, the guide piece 4k may be a groove instead of the long hole as long as the engagement protrusion 3h is engaged.

The slide cylinder portion 4b is disposed on the outer periphery of the guide cylinder portion 3b, and the engagement pieces 4t are provided at three locations along the circumferential direction via slits 4s in the lower portion. Each of the engagement pieces 4t is engaged with an engagement portion 3e formed on the outer periphery of the upper portion of the guide tube portion 3b by a protrusion 4u provided on the inner side of the lower portion.
Is restricted so that the slide member 4 does not come off the fixed member 3.

The sealing member 5 is molded from, for example, an elastic synthetic resin such as ethylene polyethylene terpolymer (EPDM), and is supported by the undulating portion 4h to seal the upper opening 3f of the fixing member 3, and the undulating portion 4h The upper opening 3f is opened and closed. The seal member 5 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 8, it has the support part 5a and the seal part 5g. The support part 5a is the upper locking part 5
A small-diameter portion 5d is disposed between b and the lower locking portion 5c, and a disc-shaped seal portion 5g is provided below the lower locking portion 5c. Further, the support portion 5a is formed with a hole 5e extending from the upper locking portion 5b to the middle of the small diameter portion 5d at the radial center of the upper locking portion 5b. Since the support portion 5a is formed with the hole 5e, the small-diameter portion 5d is easily bent from the upper locking portion 5b and can be easily attached to the insertion hole 4i formed in the undulating portion 4h. Further, the support portion 5a has a small diameter portion 5d and a concave portion 4 of the undulating portion 4h.
Positioning ribs 5f that engage with j and position the flanges 5j so as to be disposed on the hinge part 4f side are provided.

On the other hand, the seal portion 5g has a diameter between the inner diameter of the upper opening 3f and the outer diameter at the upper portion of the insertion tube portion 3c, and an inclined portion 5k that decreases outward is formed on the outer periphery of the upper surface. The inclined portion 5k is formed on the outer periphery of the upper surface of the seal portion 5g so as to correspond to the position of the recess 4p when the seal member 5 is attached to the undulating portion 4h. The seal portion 5g is provided with a seal protrusion 5i that bulges downward on the outer periphery of the lower portion by a recess 5h formed along the circumferential direction at the center in the radial direction of the lower surface, and on the opposite side of the positioning rib 5f across the hole 5e. A quadrangular flange 5j which is an extending portion extending outward in the radial direction is formed. When the positioning rib 5f is engaged with the concave portion 4j, the flange 5j is disposed on the hinge portion 4f side, and when the undulating portion 4h undulates, the sealing member 5 has the flange 5j that is connected to the upper edge of the upper opening 3f and the insertion tube portion 3c. It abuts on the upper surfaces of the two ribs 3k provided on the upper outer periphery. Accordingly, the flange 5j restricts the hinge portion 4f side of the seal portion 5g from falling into the upper opening 3f when the undulating portion 4h performs the undulating operation. For this reason, the amount of extension of the flange 5j toward the hinge portion 4f is determined in consideration of the amount of movement along the radially outward direction of the upper opening 3f of the seal member 5 accompanying the undulation of the undulating portion 4h. The seal member 5 is provided with flexibility in the seal portion 5g by forming the recess 5h, and the seal protrusion 5i is in close contact with the seal portion 3n (see FIG. 8) without any gap.

The biasing member 6 is disposed between the fixed member 3 and the slide member 4 to bias the slide member 4 upward away from the fixed member 5, and to apply a biasing force for sealing the upper opening 3 f to the seal member 5. A coil spring to be applied. The urging member 6 is formed from a synthetic resin such as polyacetal (POM), for example, and has two spring units 61 and 62 as shown in FIGS.
Are laminated.

As shown in FIG. 20, the spring unit 61 has a coil part 61a and ring-shaped support parts 61b arranged on both sides of the coil part 61a. The coil portion 61a has a winding number of 1/2.
Two coil members 61c that are turns and have a right-hand winding direction are connected to the support portions 61b on both sides with their ends shifted by 180 ° in the circumferential direction. The support 61b disposed on the lower side is provided with protrusions 61d (see FIG. 22) at a plurality of locations on the lower surface.

As shown in FIG. 21, the spring unit 62 includes a coil portion 62 a and a support portion 62 b and is configured in substantially the same manner as the spring unit 61. However, the spring unit 62 is a spring unit 61.
Unlike the case, the winding direction of the two coil members 62c is left-handed, and the support portion 6 is disposed on the upper side.
As for 2b, the recessed part 62d (refer FIG. 21, FIG. 22) is provided in the several places of the upper surface. Recess 6
2d positions the spring unit 61 and the spring unit 62 by providing the coil member 61c and the coil member 62c at a position that is 90 ° out of phase in the circumferential direction when engaged with the protrusion 61d.

Here, if the pitch angle is made larger than 20 ° or the number of turns is made more than 1/2 turn in order to increase the spring force, the spring units 61 and 62 are coil members 61c and 6 during compression.
2c tends to bulge radially outward from the central axis. Such a coil member 61
When c and 62c bulge, the spring units 61 and 62 come into contact with the inner wall of the guide tube portion 3b of the fixed member 3 and the slide tube portion 4b of the slide member 4, and the spring function is hindered or Sufficient spring force cannot be exhibited due to friction. However, the spring unit 61,
If the pitch angle and the number of turns of the coil members 61c and 62c are too small, the required spring force cannot be obtained.

As shown in FIG. 22, the urging member 6 is manufactured by stacking a spring unit 61 and a spring unit 62, and engaging a corresponding protrusion 61d and recess 62d, respectively. At this time, the urging member 6 includes support portions 61b and 62b of the spring unit 61 and the spring unit 62 facing each other.
May be adhered with an adhesive. Further, when the spring unit 61 and the spring unit 62 are used alone, when the stress acts and expands and contracts, the support portion 61b and the support portion 62b may rotate corresponding to the winding direction of the coil members 61c and 62c. is there. However, when the spring unit 61 and the spring unit 62 having different winding directions are stacked like the urging member 6, even if the support portion 61b and the support portion 62b rotate during expansion and contraction, the spring unit 61 and the spring unit 62 are rotated. Since the rotation direction is different between and, the rotation is offset. For this reason, the urging member 6 includes the support portion 61b and the support portion 62b.
Inhibition of the expansion / contraction function of the coil member 61c and the coil member 62c due to the frictional resistance caused by the rotation of the coil member can be avoided, and the spring function can be sufficiently exhibited.

Here, when the spring units 61 and 62 are stacked in an odd number of stages by making the winding directions of the coil members 61c and 62c different between adjacent spring units, the biasing member 6 has a coil member 61c and 62c in one more spring unit. Is set to 20 ° or less. If it does in this way, the urging member 6 can suppress rotation of the support part 61b and the support part 62b resulting from one spring unit. The biasing member 6 is integrally formed of synthetic resin, and as shown in FIG. 23, the two coil portions 6a are connected by three ring-shaped support portions 6b, and two coils of each coil portion 6a are connected. The winding direction of the member 6c may be opposite to the right-handed and left-handed directions.

In the reagent container 1 configured as described above, the urging member 6 is disposed on the inner periphery of the guide tube portion 3b, the slide member 4 is attached to the fixing member 3 from above, and the cap 2 is assembled. The cap 2 is attached by screwing the attaching part 3a to the opening cylinder part 1b. For this reason, the cap 2 can be easily assembled.

At this time, since the fixing member 3 has the knurled 3d processed on the outer periphery of the adherend portion 3a, the adherent portion 3a can be easily screwed to the opening cylinder portion 1b by gripping and rotating with the fingertip. Can do. On the other hand, since the slide member 4 is provided with the engagement pieces 4t at the three lower portions of the slide cylinder portion 4b via the slits 4s, the protrusion 4u is connected to the engagement portion 3e provided on the upper portion of the guide cylinder portion 3b of the fixing member 3. Even if it is easily engaged and urged upward by the urging member 6 away from the fixing member 3,
It is possible to slide between the adherend portion 3a and the engaging portion 3e along the guide tube portion 3b without detaching from the fixing member 3. In addition, since the slide member 4 is provided with the inclined groove 4n inside the guide pieces 4k facing each other, only by covering the fixed member 3, the inclined groove 4 corresponding to the engagement protrusion 3h.
n is smoothly engaged with the guide hole 4m. In addition, since the reagent container 1 is composed entirely of synthetic resin including the biasing member 6, the metal coil spring is less than the conventional reagent container that uses a metal coil spring as the biasing member 6. Since there is no need to collect separately, there is an advantage that disposal is easy.

Next, the automatic analyzer 10 using the reagent container 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The automatic analyzer 10 includes a mounting table 11 that is rotated by mounting a plurality of reagent containers 1 in a circumferential manner, and a cooling means (not shown) for the plurality of reagent containers 1 mounted on the mounting table 11. ) And a lid opening device 20 for selectively opening the cap 2 that seals the open cylindrical portion 1b of the reagent container 1; The opening device 20 is driven to open the sealing of the opening cylinder portion 1b by the cap 2, and the control device 19 that lowers the probe 30 and enters the reagent container 1 is provided.

The mounting table 11 is connected to a shaft 16 that is rotatably supported by a bearing 15. Axis 1
6 includes a gear 16 a that meshes with a gear 18 a connected to the motor 18. Mounting table 1
1 is that the motor 18 is operated by a command from the control device 19, and the shaft 1 is connected via gears 18a and 16a.
By rotating 6, it is configured to rotate a predetermined amount.

In the storage case 12, the lid opening device 20 is connected to the reagent storage 13 and the probe 30 through an opening 14a.
A lid opening device 20 is provided inside.

When the control device 19 drives the opening device 20, the reagent information is detected from the position detection sensor S for detecting the position of the reagent container 1 placed on the placement table 11 and the information label attached to the flat portion 1 c of the reagent container 1. In response to the signal from the reading device R, the mounting table 11 is rotated to position the predetermined reagent container 1 at the dispensing position.

The lid opening device 20 includes an arm 21 that opens the cap 2 of the reagent container 1, a slide shaft 22 that moves the arm 21 in the vertical direction, and a rotary solenoid 24 that moves the slide shaft 22 up and down via a connecting portion 23. And a guide 25 for guiding the slide shaft 22.
At this time, the arm 21 is provided with an opening 21 a for adjusting the position of the reagent container 1 with respect to the arm 21 at a portion immediately above the cap 2 by engaging with the plurality of position adjusting ribs 4 e.

The automatic analyzer 10 configured as described above drives the motor 18 under the control of the control device 19 to move the reagent container 1 corresponding to the selected analysis item directly below the probe 30, and the opening device 20. And the arm 21 presses the cap 2 of the reagent container 1 downward. At this time, since the cap 2 is provided with a plurality of position adjusting ribs 4e that continuously lower toward the outer peripheral side on the top surface of the top plate 4a, the plurality of position adjusting ribs 4e are engaged with the opening 21a. As a result, the position of the reagent container 1 is adjusted so as to be always at the same position relative to the arm 21.

When the cap 2 is pressed downward by the arm 21, the reagent container 1 is moved together with the seal member 5 in which the slide member 4 of the cap 2 is pushed down and the undulating portion 4h seals the upper opening 3f of the insertion tube portion 3c. Standing up, the upper opening 3f is opened. Next, the probe 30 is lowered by a driving device (not shown) and is introduced into the reagent container 1 from the upper opening 3f of the insertion tube portion 3c, and the reagent is sucked. When the automatic analyzer 10 sucks the reagent and then stops driving the opening device 20 to release the pressing of the cap 2 by the arm 21, the slide member 4 is moved in the reverse operation by the biasing force of the biasing member 6. Pushed up. Thereby, the reagent container 1 is
The slide member 4 returns to the initial position, the undulating portion 4h falls, and the upper opening 3f of the insertion tube portion 3c is sealed by the seal member 5.

The movement of the cap 2 at this time will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 25 in which the upper part of FIG. 1 is enlarged, the cap 2 is normally pushed up by the urging force of the urging member 6 and the upper opening 3f has a seal member 5 having substantially the same diameter. It is sealed by. At this time, the cap 2 is engaged with a long hole Hh extending in the horizontal direction of the guide hole 4m formed in the guide piece 4k by a protrusion 3h as a fixing point provided on the insertion tube portion 3c of the fixing member 3. For this reason, the undulating portion 4h has the guide piece 4k engaged with the projection 3h pushed downward by the urging force of the urging member 6, and the side facing the hinge portion 4f is hinged as shown in FIG. It is lowered by a slight angle θ around the portion 4. In this state, in the seal member 5, the seal protrusion 5i (see FIG. 16) on the lower outer periphery is in close contact with the seal portion 3n (see FIG. 8), and seals the upper opening 3f.

Next, when the opening device 20 is driven and the slide member 4 of the cap 2 is slightly pushed down by the arm 21, the guide piece 4k is pushed up slightly by the protrusion 3h.
As shown in FIG. 6, the undulating portion 4h slightly turns counterclockwise about the hinge portion 4f and becomes substantially horizontal. However, even when the undulating portion 4h is substantially horizontal, the seal protrusion 5i (see FIG. 16) is in close contact with the seal portion 3n (see FIG. 8) without any gap, and the seal member 5 seals the upper opening 3f. Yes. At this time, as shown in FIG. 26, the protrusion 3h is located at a boundary portion between the elongated hole Hh extending in the horizontal direction of the guide hole 4m and the elongated hole Hs inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.

Next, when the slide member 4 of the cap 2 is further pushed down, since the projection 3h is a fixing point, the long hole Hs of the guide hole 4m gradually moves toward the projection 3h, and the apparent projection 3h moves the long hole Hs to the left. The undulating portion 4h starts to stand by rotating further counterclockwise around the hinge portion 4f. As a result, as shown in FIG. 27, the reagent container 1 is released from the sealing of the upper opening 3f by the seal member 5, and the undulating portion 4h is inclined with the seal member 5 around the hinge portion 4f.

At this time, the seal member 5 starts to stand integrally with the undulating portion 4h, but the seal portion 5g has a diameter between the inner diameter of the upper opening 3f and the outer diameter at the upper portion of the insertion tube portion 3c, and the flange 5j
The lower surface is in contact with the upper edge of the upper opening 3f and the upper surfaces of the two ribs 3k provided on the upper outer periphery of the insertion tube portion 3c. For this reason, the seal member 5 smoothly opens and closes without the seal portion 5g dropping into the upper opening 3f. In addition, as shown in FIG. 13, the seal member 5 has the flange 5j because the upper surface of the seal portion 5g adjacent to the lower locking portion 5c is pressed by the two protrusions P provided on the lower surface of the undulating portion 4h. In addition, the side bend is suppressed to be small, and the presence of the recess 4p restricts the inclined portion 5k of the seal member 5 from contacting the lower surface of the undulating portion 4h when the sealing member 5 performs the undulating operation. Then, the movement of the long hole Hs of the guide hole 4m toward the protrusion 3h side as the slide member 4 is pushed down continues until the long hole Hs becomes horizontal, as shown in FIG. 28, and the undulating part 4h becomes the hinge part 4f. Rotate counterclockwise around the center of approximately 4
Stand 5 °.

When the slide member 4 of the cap 2 is further pushed down from the position shown in FIG.
As a result, the guide piece 4k is pushed up, and the undulating portion 4h rotates counterclockwise about the hinge portion 4f, and further rises as shown in FIG.

Next, when the slide member 4 of the cap 2 is further pushed down from the position shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 30, the long hole Hs of the guide hole 4m moves downward, the apparent protrusion 3h moves from the long hole Hs to the long hole Hh, and the undulating part 4h further counterclockwise around the hinge part 4f. Rotate in the direction and stand up.

When the slide member 4 is pushed down to the lowest position, as shown in FIG. 31, the protrusion 3h apparently moves to the end of the long hole Hh, and the undulating portion 4h rotates around the hinge portion 4f. , Stand upright at 90 ° to the horizontal plane. In the reagent container 1, this state is a fully open state in which the upper opening 3f of the insertion tube portion 3c is opened. Therefore, in the reagent container 1, the probe 30 is inserted through the upper opening 3 f in this state, whereby the reagent held inside is aspirated by the probe 30.

When the reagent container 1 from which the reagent has been aspirated by the probe 30 is released from the pressing of the slide member 4 by the arm 21, the slide member 4 is pushed up by the urging force of the urging member 6, and the undulating portion 4h is moved by the reverse operation. The upper opening 3 f is sealed again by the seal member 5. When the undulating portion 4h falls, the seal member 5 smoothly opens and closes without the seal portion 5g falling into the upper opening 3f, as in the case where the undulating portion 4h stands. Here, since the undulating portion 4h is connected to the top plate 4a by a thin hinge portion 4f, the undulating operation is performed smoothly. The reagent aspirated by the probe 30 is discharged into a reaction container (not shown) in which the specimen is dispensed, and the reaction liquid reacted with the specimen in the reaction container is analyzed. The automatic analyzer 10 continuously performs analysis for a plurality of types of analysis items by repeating such operations.

As described above, the reagent container 1 normally has the slide member 4 pushed up by the biasing force of the biasing member 6 and the upper opening 3f is sealed by the seal member 5. Only when the member 4 is pushed down, the upper opening 3f is opened. Moreover, the seal member 5 is formed such that the seal portion 5g is formed in a disc shape, the outer periphery of the upper surface of the seal portion 5g is lowered outward, and has no slit. For this reason, the reagent container 1 can suppress evaporation of the held reagent, and even if liquid such as condensed water in the reagent container 13 or a reagent in another reagent container 1 scatters, the reagent container 1 undulates with the opening 4g of the top 4a. It is difficult to enter from between the part 4h.

In addition, even if condensed water or the like enters the cap 2 from between the opening 4g and the undulating portion 4h, the cap 2 is inclined to the outer periphery of the upper surface of the seal portion 5g of the seal member 5 so as to be lowered outward.
Therefore, the intruding condensed water or the like flows down the outer surface of the seal portion 5g to the outer periphery and flows outward in the radial direction of the insertion tube portion 3c. Therefore, in the reagent container 1, the occurrence of contamination due to the intrusion of the condensed water in the reagent container 13 or the scattered liquid of the reagent in the other reagent container 1 is suppressed. Furthermore, the reagent container 1 has a simple cap 2 structure, and the cap 2 is less expensive than the conventional cap.
It can be provided at low cost.

Here, since the knurled 3d is processed on the outer periphery of the attaching portion 3a, the fixing member 3 holds the knurled 3d portion with the fingertip when the cap 2 is attached to the reagent container 1. Can be easily screwed to the opening cylinder portion 1b. At this time, since the cap 2 is assembled by previously attaching the slide member 4 to the fixing member 3, when the fixing member 3 is rotated, the slide member 4 is also rotated in the circumferential direction.
There is a possibility that the slide member 4 may come off the fixing member 3.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 32, the cap 2 forms two stoppers 3p in the up-down direction at intervals in the circumferential direction below the engaging portion 3e on the outer surface of the guide cylinder portion 3b of the fixing member 3. On the other hand, the slide member 4 is positioned adjacent to the two stoppers 3p, as shown in FIG.
Three protrusions 4v that engage with e are provided. At this time, the three protrusions 4v are provided so that the central protrusion 4v is disposed between the two stoppers 3p and the protrusions 4v on both sides are disposed on both sides of the two stoppers 3p. Thereby, when the cap 2 reverses the vertical direction of the slide member 4 and is attached to the fixing member 3 as indicated by an arrow and engages the protrusion 4v and the stopper 3p, the slide member 4 is fixed to the fixing member 3. The projections 4u and 4v and the engaging portion 3e are regulated so that the slide member 4 does not come off the fixing member 3 even if it slides, and the projection 4v and the stopper 3p are engaged,
The slide member 4 is regulated so as not to rotate in the circumferential direction with respect to the fixed member 3, and the slide member 4
The possibility of being detached from the fixing member 3 is eliminated.

As described above, the reagent container according to the present invention does not easily enter the container even if the condensed water in the reagent container of the automatic analyzer or the liquid of the reagent in the other reagent container is scattered, thus causing contamination. Useful for reducing.

According to the above description, the inventions obtained by arbitrarily combining the terms listed below and those terms are obtained.

(Additional remark 1) The reagent container of Claim 1 WHEREIN: The said slide member engages with the engaging part provided in the said fixing member in the fitting part with the said fixing member, and the direction separated from the said fixing member A reagent container, characterized in that a restricting part for restricting movement to is provided.

By providing the restricting portion, the slide member can be slid to the restricting portion without detaching from the fixing member even when being urged away from the fixing member by the urging member.

(Additional Item 2) The reagent container according to claim 2, wherein the guide portion is provided with an inclined groove for guiding the engagement of the engagement protrusion.

By providing the inclined groove, the slide member can smoothly engage the engaging protrusion provided on the fixing member with the guide portion.

(Additional Item 3) In the reagent container according to Additional Item 2, the opposed guide portions are provided on the top plate of the slide member, and the seal member is disposed between the opposed guide portions on the lower surface of the top plate. A reagent container having a recess for regulating contact.

(Additional Item 4) In the reagent container according to claim 1,
The fixing member is provided with a plurality of stoppers in a direction parallel to the sliding direction of the sliding member,
The reagent container, wherein the slide member is provided with a plurality of restricting protrusions that engage with the plurality of stoppers to restrict rotation in the circumferential direction.

It is the front view which showed the reagent container of this invention by making the upper part and the cap of the said reagent container into a cross section. It is a right half section front view of the fixing member which constitutes a cap. It is a top view of a fixing member. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fixing member shown in FIG. 3 taken along line C1-C1. It is the left view which fractured | ruptured and showed a part of fixing member. It is a bottom view of a fixing member. It is the A section enlarged view of FIG. It is sectional drawing to which the B section of FIG. 3 was expanded. It is a front view of the slide member which comprises a cap. It is a top view of a slide member. It is a left view of a slide member. It is sectional drawing along the C2-C2 line | wire of the slide member shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing along the C3-C3 line | wire of the slide member shown in FIG. It is a bottom view of a slide member. It is the enlarged view to which the upper part of FIG. 13 was expanded. It is a right half section front view of the seal member which constitutes a cap. It is the top view which fractured and showed a part of seal member. It is a left view of a sealing member. It is a perspective view of the energizing member which constitutes a cap. It is a perspective view which shows one side of the spring body which forms a biasing member. It is a perspective view which shows the other of the spring body which forms a biasing member. It is a front view which shows a mode that two spring bodies are combined and it is set as an urging | biasing member. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of a biasing member. It is a schematic block diagram of the automatic analyzer which uses the reagent container of this invention. It is the enlarged view to which the upper part of the reagent container shown in FIG. 1 with which the sealing member sealed the opening of the insertion cylinder part was expanded. FIG. 26 is an enlarged view showing a state where the undulating portion and the seal member are substantially horizontal because the slide member of the cap shown in FIG. 25 is slightly pushed down. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a state where the slide member is further pushed down to raise the undulating portion, the sealing of the upper opening of the insertion tube portion by the sealing member is released, and the undulating portion is inclined together with the sealing member. It is an enlarged view which shows the state which the slide member was further pushed down and the raising / lowering part and the sealing member stood substantially 45 degrees. FIG. 29 is an enlarged view showing a state in which the slide member is further pushed down from the state shown in FIG. 28. FIG. 30 is an enlarged view showing a state where the slide member is further pushed down from the state shown in FIG. 29. It is an enlarged view which shows the state by which the slide member was pushed down to the lowest part, the undulating part and the sealing member stood upright, and the upper opening of the insertion cylinder part was fully opened. It is a perspective view which shows the modification of the fixing member and slide member which comprise a cap.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reagent container 1a Main body 1b Opening cylinder part 1c Plane part 2 Cap 3 Fixing member 3a Adhering part 3b Guide cylinder part 3c Insertion cylinder part 3f Upper opening 3h Engagement protrusion 3k Rib 3p Stopper 4 Slide member 4a Top plate 4b Slide cylinder part 4e Position adjustment rib 4f Hinge part 4g Opening 4h Uneven part 4i Insertion hole 4j Recess 4k Guide piece 4m Guide hole 4n Inclined groove 4p Recess 4s Slit 4t Engagement piece 4u, 4v Protrusion 5 Seal member 5a Support part 5f Positioning rib 5g Part 5i Seal projection 5j Flange 5k Inclined part 6 Energizing member 6a Coil part 6b Support part 6c Coil member 61, 62 Spring unit 61a, 62a Coil part 61b, 62b Support part 61c, 62c Coil member Hh, Hs Long hole P Projection Part

Claims (6)

A reagent container having a cap that is attached to an opening cylinder of a main body that contains a reagent,
The cap is
A fixing member that has an insertion tube portion that communicates with the opening tube portion, and is attached to the opening tube portion;
A slide member that is slidably fitted to the fixing member and covers the fixing member, and has a undulating portion that is undulated by the insertion tube portion in accordance with a sliding operation with respect to the fixing member;
A seal member that is supported by the undulation portion and seals the opening of the insertion tube portion;
It arrange | positions between the said fixing member and the said sliding member, and urges | biases the said sliding member in the direction away from the said fixing member, and seals the opening of the said insertion cylinder part to the said sealing member via the said sliding member. A biasing member for applying a biasing force;
With
The reagent container, wherein the seal member is erected together with the undulating portion by the insertion tube portion by sliding the slide member toward the fixing member side, and the sealing of the opening is opened. The insertion tube portion is provided with an engagement protrusion at a position facing the upper outer periphery across the tube center,
2. The reagent container according to claim 1, wherein the undulating portion is provided with a guide portion that guides the undulation of the undulating portion by engaging each of the engaging protrusions at a position facing each other. The reagent container according to claim 1, wherein the slide member is provided with an adjustment unit on an upper surface thereof for adjusting a position of the slide member with an operation unit that slides the slide member toward the fixed member. The reagent container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the undulating portion is provided with a positioning portion that determines a position for supporting the seal member. The reagent container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the undulating portion is formed into a thin wall and has a hinge that is a center of the undulation. 2. The reagent container according to claim 1, wherein the insertion tube portion is provided with a plurality of contact portions on the outer periphery of the seal member that contact the lower periphery of the hinge side of the seal member.

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