JP4471425B2 - Sensor supply device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sensor supply device that supplies a sensor, such as a biosensor, that measures characteristics of an object to a measurement device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, various biosensors utilizing the specific catalytic action of enzymes have been developed, and biosensors that can be measured quickly and accurately as clinical applications for quantifying specific components in biological samples are attempted. It is requested. Taking a glucose sensor as an example, today, when the number of diabetic patients is increasing rapidly, measuring blood plasma levels and managing blood glucose is a very complicated procedure to measure blood plasma by conventional centrifugation. Therefore, a sensor capable of measuring whole blood is desired.
[0003]
As a conventional simple glucose sensor, like a test paper used at the time of urine test, an enzyme that reacts only with sugar (glucose) on a stick-like support and an enzyme reaction or a product of the enzyme reaction Some are provided with a carrier containing a dye that changes.
One example is a glucose sensor in which blood is dropped on a carrier and changes in the dye after a certain time are measured visually or optically. For example, an enclosed aluminum pack is opened to a predetermined position. When the aluminum pack is pinched, it is inserted into the sensor holding connector portion of the measuring device main body, and after confirming that the power is automatically turned on, the blood is dropped on the carrier. This type of glucose sensor is easy to measure, but is highly disturbed by colored substances in blood and has low accuracy.
[0004]
On the other hand, biosensors that can be disposable for each measurement including the electrode system have been proposed. For example, in the biosensor previously proposed by the present inventors (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-294351), a predetermined voltage is supplied to the electrode system of the sensor, the value of the current flowing between the electrodes is measured, and the electric signal is also obtained. In addition, the substrate concentration in the sample solution is calculated, and the measurement operation is very easy but the accuracy is high.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, any of the above-mentioned types of biosensors perform useless measurement operations such as inserting in the reverse direction into the sensor holding connector part of the measuring device body, or measuring while remaining inserted in the reverse direction. There was a case.
An object of this invention is to provide the sensor supply apparatus which can supply a sensor, such as a biosensor, to the measuring apparatus in the state which can be mounted | worn reliably and easily.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, by configuring a sensor supply device that stores a plurality of sensors and feeds them one by one in a predetermined direction, the sensor can be reliably mounted from the sensor supply device to the measurement device.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention according to claim 1 is a sensor supply device for supplying a sensor for measuring a characteristic of an object to a measuring device, wherein the sensor storage case has a sensor outlet and stores a plurality of sensors. And a sensor discharging means for discharging the sensor in the sensor storage case through the sensor outlet and discharging the sensor at a predetermined sensor discharging position so that the sensor mounting end to the measuring device precedes , and drying in the sensor storage case An agent is arranged .
[0008]
According to this configuration, the sensors are sent one by one and are always discharged at the same sensor discharge position and at the same angle so that the mounting end to the measurement device is preceded. It is possible to carry out reliably in any direction. Moreover, since the desiccant is arranged in the sensor storage case, the performance of the sensor can be reliably kept good.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a measuring device guide means having a guide surface for guiding the movable sensor mounting portion of the measuring device to the sensor discharge position. .
[0009]
According to this configuration, by moving the sensor mounting portion along the guide surface of the measuring device guide means, the sensor mounting portion can be arranged in an appropriate direction at the sensor discharge position. The mounting operation can be performed more reliably and easily. The final sensor discharging operation by the sensor discharging means is performed after the sensor mounting portion is arranged at a predetermined sensor discharging position.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, there is provided a sensor guide means having a guide surface for guiding the sensor sent from the sensor storage case to the sensor discharge position.
According to this configuration, by moving the sensor along the guide surface of the sensor guide means, the sensor can be arranged in the appropriate direction at the sensor discharge position, so that the mounting operation of the sensor to the measuring device can be performed more reliably. Can be performed.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, a roller constituting a part of the sensor discharging means is slidably contacted with one side surface of the sensor and directed toward the sensor outlet in the sensor storage case. both the rotatably provided, characterized in that a resilient member which presses the sensor on the roller.
According to this configuration, the sensor pressed against the roller by the elastic body is sent out as the roller rotates, so that the sensors in the sensor storage case can be reliably sent out one by one.
[0012]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the sensor packaging material individually wrapped with the film packaging material is cut in the middle of the discharge path from the sensor storage case to the sensor discharge position. A sensor take-out means for taking out the sensor is provided.
According to this configuration, even when a sensor individually packaged in a film-like packaging material is loaded, it can be automatically taken out from the packaging material and discharged, and the sensor can be used in a good storage state, There is no need to take out the sensor from the packaging material.
[0013]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the fifth aspect, a packaging material removing means for removing the packaging material remaining on the sensor taking-out means is provided.
According to this configuration, the film-shaped packaging material from which the sensor has been taken out can be removed reliably without remaining, and therefore, the sensor mounted on the measuring device can be discharged smoothly one after another.
[0014]
The invention described in 請 Motomeko 7, in the configuration of claim 1, wherein, inventory the operation result performed subtraction every time the discharge of the sensor according to the stored sensor discharging means loading number of the sensor into the sensor storage case It is characterized by providing display means for displaying as
[0015]
According to this configuration, it is possible to easily know the timing of loading the sensor into the sensor storage case by looking at the display means.
The invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1, the sensor is a disposable sensor for blood glucose measurement.
The disposable sensor for measuring blood glucose is a supply object suitable for being supplied to the measuring device by the sensor supply device described above.
[0016]
Hereinafter, the sensor supply apparatus of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sensor storage case 3 storing a plurality of sensor packaging bodies 2 is detachably installed in the main body 1 of the sensor supply device, and the sensor packaging body 2 is removed from the sensor storage case 3. Sensor sending means 4 for sending out, packaging material cutting unit 7 for taking out the biosensor 6 by cutting the packaging material 5 of the sensor packaging body 2 sent out from the sensor storage case 3, and further sending out the taken out biosensor 6 to a predetermined sensor A sensor discharge means 8 for discharging at the discharge position and a packaging material recovery box 9 are provided. The sensor sending means in the claims corresponds to the sensor sending means 4 and the sensor discharging means 8.
[0017]
A sensor discharge port 10 is formed at the sensor discharge position in the main body 1, and a tube having a guide surface on the inner periphery for guiding the measuring device to the sensor discharge position outside the main body 1 surrounding the sensor discharge port 10. A measuring device guide 11 is provided.
A control device 12 having a switch unit 12a, an input unit 12b, a display unit 12c, and a storage operation unit (not shown) is provided on the outer surface of the main body 1, and sensor operation is performed by operating the switch unit 12a. A series of operations of the means 4, the packaging material cutting unit 7, and the sensor discharging means 8 can be driven. In addition, by inputting the initial value of the sensor package 2 from the input unit 12b when the sensor storage case 3 is mounted, the initial value or the subtraction result is automatically subtracted from the initial value every time the switch unit 12a is operated. The number of stocks can be displayed on the display unit 12c.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor storage case 3 is provided with an elastic body such as a spring 13 for pressing the sensor packaging body 2 in the case downward on the lid portion 3 b covering the upper loading port 3 a to cut the packaging material. A sensor outlet 3d is formed at the lowermost portion of the side wall 3c facing the unit 7, and a sensor outlet 3e is formed at the bottom. A pair of sensor sending roller 4a and sensor roller roller 4b constituting the sensor sending means 4 are installed on the outside along the sensor outlet 3d so as to be rotatable in the upper and lower stages and in opposite directions. The delivery roller 4c is installed so as to enter the upper end edge of the sensor delivery port 3e. A desiccant box 14 filled with a desiccant that maintains the inside of the case in a dry state is attached to the inner surface of the sensor storage case 3.
[0019]
The sensor package 2 uses two laminated films formed by vapor deposition of aluminum on the surface of PET as a packaging material 5 to separate and store the biosensor 6 and the desiccant between the films, and melts the periphery of the storage part with a predetermined width. It has been sealed. In the biosensor 6, as shown in FIG. 4, a counter electrode 16 and a measurement electrode 17, leads 18 and 19 connected thereto, and an insulating layer 20 are provided on the surface of the substrate 15, so as to cover the counter electrode 16 and the measurement electrode 17. A reaction layer (not shown) containing an enzyme and a mediator (electron acceptor) is formed. The surface of the substrate 15 was formed with a spacer 22 having a U-shaped notch 21 serving as an air hole at a portion corresponding to the measurement electrode 17 and a sample supply hole 23 communicating with the notch 21 of the spacer 22. The cover 24 is sequentially covered, and the substrate 15, the spacer 22, and the cover 24 are fixed to each other. Reference numeral 25 denotes a mounting end to the measuring device, and reference numeral 25a denotes a protrusion provided to prevent reverse insertion of the biosensor 6 into the measuring device. Therefore, when the test liquid (sample) is dropped into the sample supply hole 23 with the mounting end 25 mounted on the measuring device, the test liquid is guided onto the counter electrode 16 and the measurement electrode 17 by capillary action, and the counter electrode 16 The air above the measuring electrode 17 is discharged to the side of the spacer 22 through the notch 21.
[0020]
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the packaging material cutting unit 7 includes a stage 26 on which the sensor packaging body 2 delivered by a predetermined distance by the sensor delivery means 4 is positioned and placed. Above the stage 26, a cutter 27 that cuts the packaging material 5 of the sensor packaging body 2, a flat sensor extrusion means 28 that pushes out the biosensor 6 from the cut packaging material 5, and the packaging material 5. A sensor guide portion 29 for guiding the biosensor 6 toward the sensor discharge port 10 is provided, and a cutter top cover 30 is provided so as to cover the upper part thereof. The stage 26 is rotatable around the axis of the shaft portion 26a, and the packaging material collection box 9 described above is disposed below the end portion thereof.
[0021]
The cutter 27 has a V-shaped blade portion 31 (a shape opened at 45 ° on both sides in a direction from the sensor storage case 3 to the sensor discharge port 10 (hereinafter referred to as sensor moving direction)) at one end, and at the other end, the cutter 27 The blade portion 31 of the stage 26 is supported by an elastic member such as a leaf spring 34 that is rotatably supported around the shaft center of a shaft portion 33 inserted through a base portion 32 fixed to the top cover 30. It is freely rotatable between a standby position (shown by an imaginary line) located above and a cut position (shown by a solid line) where the blade portion 31 is fitted into a recess (not shown) formed on the upper surface of the stage 26.
[0022]
The sensor push-out means 28 is attached downward to one end of a support member 35 arranged along the sensor moving direction, the lower part (length a) is inclined toward the sensor storage case 3 side, and the support member 35 is attached. The slide button 36 moves as it slides to a predetermined position along a groove-shaped guide portion (not shown) of the cutter top cover 30, and reaches the biosensor 6 contacting the lower portion to the sensor discharge means 8. Extrude until. A spacer 37 is attached to the other end of the support member 35 to abut against the lower surface of the cutter top cover 30 and the upper surface of the cutter 27 to regulate the distance between the two members.
[0023]
A pair of sensor guide portions 29 is provided at a position facing the sensor push-out means 28, the sensor receiving side is formed in an eight-square shape with an angle of 45 ° with respect to the sensor moving direction, and the sensor discharge side is the biosensor 6 side. It arrange | positions so that it may become the clearance gap 29a which accept | permits passage. The width W of the sensor receiving side opening of the sensor guide portion 29 is wider than the width w of the sensor storage chamber 5a in which the biosensor 6 is stored so that the biosensor 6 can be reliably guided in the center direction along the wall surface. Is set. A downward projecting portion 38 is formed at the lower portion of the sensor guide portion 29 on the sensor discharge side, and a recess (previous) of the stage 26 into which the blade portion 31 is fitted is continued. The non-encapsulated region enters and is pressed downward by the protrusion 38. The pressing amount is not less than the thickness (for example, 0.3 mm) of the packaging material 5.
[0024]
The sensor discharge means 8 comprises two pairs of sensor discharge rollers 8a, 8b and 8c, 8d arranged at intervals along the sensor moving direction.
The operation in the above configuration will be described.
When the switch unit 12a of the control device 12 is operated, the sensor sending roller 4a, the sensor roller roller 4b, and the sensor sending roller 4c are driven, and the lowermost part pressed against the sensor sending roller 4c by the spring 13 in the sensor storage case 3 is driven. The sensor package 2 is sent out by the rotation of the sensor feed roller 4c, goes out of the case through the outlet 3d, and further conveyed by a predetermined distance by the sensor feed roller 4a and the sensor roller roller 4b, and the stage of the packaging material cut unit 7 26. At this time, the cutter 27 is in the standby position.
[0025]
Thereafter, the slide button 36 slides to the sensor storage case 3 side, and the sensor pusher 28 and the spacer 37 are moved to the sensor storage case 3 side along with the support member 35 moved thereby, and the moved spacer 37 moves upward. The cutter 27 pressed from above rotates against the urging force of the leaf spring 34 and rotates around the axis of the shaft 33, and the blade 31 of the cutter 27 moves down to the cutting position where it fits into the recess of the stage 26. A V-shaped cut line 31 a corresponding to the shape of the blade 31 is placed in the packaging material 5 around the sensor 6.
[0026]
Next, when the slide button 36 slides toward the sensor discharge port 10, the sensor pusher 28 and the spacer 37 move along with the moving support member 35, and when the spacer 37 comes off from the upper surface of the cutter 27, The cutter 27 is rotated around the shaft center of the shaft portion 33 by the urging force of the leaf spring 34, and the blade portion 31 is pushed up above the packaging material 5.
[0027]
At the same time, and biosensor 6 is pushed by the sensor pushing means 28, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, while passing under the cutter 27 is pushed out from the cut line 31a of the packaging material 5, the sensor guide portion 29 is guided to the center side through the top of the packaging material 5 which is held down by the projection 38 along the inner peripheral surface of the sensor guide portion 29, the sensor ejection rollers 8a through the center between gap, are guided to 8b. After the slide button 36 stops at a predetermined position, the biosensor 6 is moved by the sensor discharge rollers 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d and guided to the sensor discharge port 10.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 8, when the one end of the biosensor 6 is sandwiched between the sensor discharge rollers 8c and 8d and the other end protrudes from the sensor discharge port 10, the sensor discharge rollers 8c and 8d are temporarily stopped. To do.
In this state, when the connector part 40 of the measuring apparatus is inserted into the measuring apparatus guide part 11, the connector part 40 is guided by the inner peripheral surface of the measuring apparatus guide part 11, and the sensor insertion port (see FIG. (Not shown) are arranged so as to face each other, and thereafter, the sensor discharge rollers 8c and 8d are driven for a predetermined time, and the biosensor 6 is attached to the sensor insertion port of the connector portion 40. When the connector 40 is retracted from the measuring device guide 11 after the sensor discharge rollers 8c and 8d are stopped again, the mounting state as shown in FIG. 9 is obtained. Note that this time, the upper surface of the connector portion 40 is formed a slit 41 along the axial direction of the sensor insertion port by a predetermined length, to the slit 41, in contact with the stopper means to the end face of the biosensor 6 inserted Since 42 is slidably provided, the biosensor 6 is disposed at an appropriate position of the sensor insertion opening.
[0029]
After finishing a series of inspection operations, by sliding the stopper means 42 in the direction of arrow d in the slit 41, to discharge the biosensor 6 to the outside of the connector portion 40.
On the other hand, the packaging material 5 remaining on the stage 26 can be slid down into the packaging material collection box 9 by rotating and tilting the stage 26 around the axis of the shaft portion 26a. The packaging material 5 accumulated in the packaging material collection box 9 can be discharged in a lump by appropriately removing the packaging material collection box 9 from the main body 1.
[0030]
As described above, the biosensor 6 enclosed in the packaging material 5 is loaded in the sensor storage case 3 and installed at a predetermined position, so that the mounting operation of the biosensor 6 to the measuring apparatus is performed one by one. Compared to the conventional method, the troublesomeness and labor of taking out the biosensor 6 from the packaging material 5 can be reduced.
Since the number of stocks in the sensor storage case 3 is automatically calculated and displayed on the display unit 12c every time the biosensor 6 is mounted on the measuring device, it is easy to load the sensor storage case 3 into the sensor storage case 3. You can know and prevent out of stock.
[0031]
In the above-described embodiment, a series of sensor discharge operations are started by operating the switch unit 12a provided in the sensor supply device to cause the biosensor to protrude from the sensor discharge port 10, and then the measurement device guide unit 11 By inserting the connector part 40 of the measuring device into the sensor unit, the sensor discharging operation is caused again, and the biosensor 6 is mounted on the connector part 40. A series of sensor discharging operations may be started from the time when the connector part 40 of the apparatus is inserted into the measuring apparatus guide part 11, and the biosensor 6 may be attached to the connector part 40.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the sensor supply device of the present invention, the sensor storage case that stores a plurality of sensors, and the sensor discharge means that sends out the sensor from the sensor storage case and discharges it at a predetermined sensor discharge position are provided. Although it is a simple structure, the attaching operation of the biosensor to the measuring apparatus can be performed reliably one by one.
[0033]
Further, by providing a measuring device guide means for guiding the sensor mounting portion of the measuring device to the sensor discharge position, it becomes possible to more reliably and easily perform the mounting operation of the sensor to the measuring device.
By providing sensor guiding means for guiding the sensor sent out from the sensor storage case to the sensor discharge position, it is possible to more reliably perform the sensor mounting operation on the measuring apparatus.
[0034]
By providing a roller that constitutes a part of the sensor discharging means and an elastic body that presses the sensor toward the roller inside the sensor storage case, the sensors can be sent out one by one smoothly. it can.
By providing a sensor take-out means that cuts the film packaging material and takes out the sensor, the sensor can be automatically taken out from the packaging material and discharged even if a sensor individually wrapped with the film packaging material is loaded. Can be used while the storage state is good, and the troublesomeness and labor of taking out the sensor from the packaging material can be reduced as compared with the conventional case.
[0035]
By providing the packaging material removing means, it is possible to reliably remove the film-shaped packaging material remaining on the sensor taking-out means, and the sensors attached to the measuring device can be discharged smoothly one after another.
By disposing the desiccant in the sensor storage case, it is possible to reliably keep the sensor performance good.
[0036]
By providing display means for automatically calculating and displaying the number of sensors in the sensor storage case, it is possible to easily know the timing of loading the sensor into the sensor storage case and to prevent out of stock.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic overall configuration of a sensor supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration in the vicinity of a sensor discharge position of the sensor supply device of FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional biosensor that can be supplied by the sensor supply device of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional biosensor that can be supplied by the sensor supply device of FIG. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the packaging material cutting operation of the packaging material cutting unit in the sensor supply device. FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the packaging material cutting operation of the packaging material cutting unit. FIG. 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view for explaining the operation. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a connecting portion between the sensor supply device shown in FIG. 1 and a conventional measuring device. FIG. Status Explanatory view showing DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS
1 Body 2 Sensor packaging 3 Sensor storage case
3d sensor outlet 4 sensor delivery means 5 packaging material 6 biosensor 7 packaging material cut unit 8 sensor discharge means 9 packaging material collection box
10 Sensor outlet
11 Measuring device guide
12a Switch part
12c Display section
13 Spring
14 Desiccant box
27 Cutter
28 Sensor extrusion means
29 Sensor guide

Claims (8)

A sensor supply device for supplying a sensor for measuring characteristics of an object to a measurement device,
A sensor storage case having a sensor outlet and storing a plurality of sensors;
Sensor discharge means for sending out the sensor in the sensor storage case through the sensor delivery port and discharging the sensor at a predetermined sensor discharge position so that the sensor mounting end to the measurement device precedes ,
A sensor supply device, wherein a desiccant is disposed in the sensor storage case .   2. The sensor supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a measurement device guide means having a guide surface for guiding a movable sensor mounting portion of the measurement device to a sensor discharge position.   2. The sensor supply device according to claim 1, further comprising sensor guide means having a guide surface for guiding the sensor sent out from the sensor storage case to the sensor discharge position. Inside the sensor storage case, both the provision rotatably in a direction towards the sensor outlet in sliding contact with the rollers constituting a part of a sensor discharging means on one side of the sensor, the elastic pressing the sensor toward the roller The sensor supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a body.   2. A sensor take-out means is provided in the middle of the discharge path from the sensor storage case to the sensor discharge position to cut out the sensor packaging material individually wrapped with a film-like packaging material and take out the sensor. The sensor supply device described.   6. The sensor supply device according to claim 5, further comprising a packaging material removing means for removing the packaging material remaining on the sensor take-out means. 2. A display means for storing the number of sensors loaded in the sensor storage case , subtracting each time the sensor is discharged by the sensor discharging means, and displaying the calculation result as an inventory quantity . Sensor supply device. The sensor supply device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a disposable sensor for blood glucose measurement .

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