JP4578172B2 - Preparative dispensing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting / dispensing apparatus for preventing a sample from being infected by sterilizing or sterilizing a sorting / dispensing work area.

  In recent years, it has been practiced to culture cells in various ways, such as using patient's own stem cells to differentiate into muscles, nerves, etc., or subculture and increasing cells such as skin and cartilage. When exchanging the cells, it is necessary to prevent the cells of other patients from being mixed with the cells of one patient or the infection of various bacteria such as bacteria and viruses.

In order to prevent infection, sterilization or sterilization with an autoclave, gas, or the like is preferably performed on the sorting / dispensing device. because there was not a structure capable of withstanding the highly reactive various gases such as high temperature and high pressure conditions and ozone such as an autoclave, sterilized or sterilisable preparative dispensing apparatus did not exist.

If all the components of the preparative dispensing device can be made of only materials that can withstand high-temperature and high-pressure steam such as autoclaves and highly reactive gases such as ozone, for example, stainless steel alone, conventional preparative dispensing There is no problem with the structure of the device. However, in practice, it is better in terms of workability and cost to use plastic or rubber for the tube and seal packing. The conventional dispensing apparatus is not a structure that can withstand high-temperature and high-pressure steam, ozone gas, or the like.

  The present invention is intended to solve the above problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus that can sterilize or sterilize only the main dispensing work area and reliably prevent infection.

A chip holder for mounting a chip; a chip removing mechanism for removing the chip; a dispensing arm for holding the chip holder; a dispensing arm turning shaft for supporting the dispensing arm; A tip lifting / lowering drive motor and a tip turning drive motor for moving the dispensing / pivoting arm turning shaft up and down and turning freely, a tip drive mechanism cover for storing the tip raising / lowering drive motor and the tip turning drive motor, and the like. By lowering the arm, the dispensing and dispensing work area and the inside of the tip drive mechanism cover can be isolated, and when performing only various dispensing and sterilization processes such as autoclave and ozone sterilization in the dispensing and dispensing work area , from minute share Note region to the tip drive mechanism within the cover to prevent the gas inlet, yield from various gases such as high-temperature high-pressure steam and ozone tip drive mechanism within the cover It has been constructed the partial share Note comprising an arm seal packing min share Note machine to protect the tip drive mechanism or the like.

  Here, in order to determine the tip position, it is preferable that a tip positioning detection plate and a tip positioning sensor for detecting the tip positioning detection plate are provided at the bottom of the sorting and dispensing arm turning shaft.

In addition, a sorting / dispensing work table that is provided alongside the sorting / dispensing machine, the petri dish setting table for setting the petri dish for sorting and dispensing, the petri dish fixing arm for fixing the petri dish, and the petri dish setting table A petri dish rotating shaft coupled to the petri dish rotating shaft, a petri dish rotating drive motor for rotating the petri dish rotating shaft, a petri dish elevating air cylinder for raising and lowering the petri dish set base, and a base plate for housing the petri dish rotating drive motor, the petri dish elevating air cylinder and the like By lowering the petri dish set stand, it is possible to isolate the sorting and dispensing area and the area below the base plate, and only the sorting and dispensing work area is subjected to various sterilization and sterilization processes such as autoclave and ozone sterilization. when the partial share from the casting work area to the base plate under region prevents gas inlet, base from various gases such as high-temperature high-pressure steam and ozone To constitute a partial share Note workbench comprising a dish setting stage seal packing that protects the dish driving mechanism or the like accommodated in the plate under region.

  The petri dish positioning detection plate and the petri dish positioning detection plate are arranged at the bottom of the petri dish rotating shaft so that the tip can be swung and the rotational angle position of the petri dish is determined, thereby enabling the dispensing operation at an arbitrary position on the petri dish bottom surface. It is preferable to provide a petri dish positioning sensor for detecting the above.

  It is preferable to provide an upper and lower pin for tilting the petri dish for easily and completely sorting the solution in the petri dish on the sorting / dispensing work table.

  In the sorting / dispensing apparatus provided with the sorting / dispensing machine and the sorting / dispensing work table, contaminants in the tip drive mechanism cover and under the base plate are sorted during the sorting / dispensing work. In order to prevent entry into the dispensing work area, it is preferable to install a suction pump in the tip drive mechanism cover and in the lower area of the base plate.

  As described above, the sorting / dispensing apparatus of the present invention can separate the sorting / dispensing work area from the inside of the cover containing the chip and the petri dish drive mechanism and the like, so that the sorting / dispensing work can be performed. While sterilizing or sterilizing only the area, it is possible to prevent deterioration of parts such as the chip and petri dish drive mechanism stored in the cover.

  Further, since the tip and petri dish can be positioned, it is possible to automatically perform operations such as sorting and dispensing automatically.

  FIG. 1 is an overall view of a sorting / dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sorting / dispensing apparatus taken along line AA shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a mechanism diagram of the tip turning unit, and FIG. 4 is a tip removal mechanism diagram. Further, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the tip drive mechanism and the like at the time of sterilization / sterilization processing of the sorting / dispensing machine are sealed, and FIG. 6 is a petri dish driving mechanism at the time of sterilization / sterilization processing of the sorting / dispensing work table. It is sectional drawing of the state which sealed etc.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sorting / dispensing device is equipped with a sorting / dispensing machine equipped with a swivel mechanism that can sort and dispense a culture solution, etc., and a petri dish containing a cell solution to be sorted and dispensed. Petri dish set table 1 for performing the dispensing operation, chip mounting place 2 for mounting the chip on the sorting / dispensing machine, chip discarding place 3 for discarding the used chip, and culture medium fraction for separating the culture solution The collecting place 4 and a culture solution disposal place 4a for discarding the culture solution and the like are configured.

  First, the configuration of the sorting / dispensing machine will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the sorting / dispensing machine has a tip holder 5 b for mounting the tip 7, a sorting / dispensing arm 5 for holding the tip holder, and the sorting / dispensing arm 5 can be moved up and down. And a dispensing / pivoting arm pivot shaft 5a that is pivotably moved, a tip lifting / lowering drive motor 11 that lifts and lowers the dispensing / dispensing arm pivot shaft 5a via a mounting plate 12, and the dispensing / dispensing arm pivot shaft. It comprises a tip turning drive motor 14 for turning the sorting and dispensing arm turning shaft 5a through tip turning pulleys 14a and 14b arranged at the lower part of 5a. The tip turning drive mechanism and the like can be installed on the mounting plate 12 as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

  Here, chip drive mechanisms such as the chip lifting drive motor 11 and the chip turning drive motor 14 are accommodated in the chip drive mechanism cover 15.

  The chip holder 5b is provided with a chip removal mechanism 6 so that the chip 7 can be removed. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the chip is mounted on the chip holder 5b, and the chip removal plate 17 disposed vertically through the fixing plate 16 fixed to the chip holder 5b is pulled up to a normal upper position by a spring 18. Is retained. On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows a state in which the chip 7 is removed from the chip holder 5, the sorting / dispensing arm 5 is swung to the chip disposal place 3, and the chip removal plate 17 is attached to the hook plate 19 disposed in the chip disposal place 3. The tip 7 can be removed by raising the sorting and dispensing arm 5 so as to press and lowering the tip removal plate 17.

  Furthermore, it is also preferable to install a chip positioning mechanism as shown in FIG. The chip positioning mechanism can accurately stop the chip 7 at a predetermined position by the chip positioning detection plate 13 and the chip positioning sensor 13a installed at the bottom of the sorting and dispensing arm turning shaft 5a. Thereby, it becomes easy to automatically perform operations such as sorting and dispensing, tip mounting, and disposal.

  Next, the configuration of the sorting / dispensing work table will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the sorting / dispensing work table is a petri dish set table 1 on which a petri dish 1a containing a sample such as a cell solution is placed to perform sorting / dispensing work, and the petri dish 1a is used as the petri dish set table 1 A petri dish fixing arm 21 for fixing the petri dish to the petri dish, a petri dish set rotating shaft 1b for moving the petri dish set table 1 up and down and rotating, a petri dish lifting air cylinder 10 for moving the petri dish set rotating shaft 1b up and down, and a petri dish Petri dish raising / lowering guide shaft 10a that guides raising / lowering when raising / lowering the table 1 and a petri dish rotation drive motor that rotates the petri dish set table rotating shaft 1b via the petri dish rotating pulleys 8a and 8b arranged below the petri dish set table rotating shaft 1b. 8 and.

  Here, the petri dish drive mechanism such as the petri dish raising / lowering air cylinder 10 and the petri dish rotation drive motor 8 is housed in the lower region of the base plate 23.

  In addition, it is possible to provide an upper and lower pin not shown in the drawing to incline the petri dish 1a so that the sorting and dispensing work can be performed efficiently.

  Furthermore, when performing operations such as sorting and dispensing by rotating the petri dish 1a, it is also preferable to install a petri dish positioning mechanism as shown in FIG. 2, for example, in order to determine the rotation angle of the petri dish 1a. The petri dish positioning mechanism can accurately stop the petri dish 1a at a predetermined position by the petri dish positioning detection plate 9 and the petri dish positioning sensor 9a installed at the bottom of the petri dish set rotating shaft 1b. Thereby, the movement with the sorting and dispensing arm 5 is controlled, and the sorting and dispensing work can be performed at an arbitrary position on the bottom of the petri dish 1a.

  In order to prevent contaminants in the tip drive mechanism cover 15 and the area under the base 23 from entering the sorting and dispensing work area during the sorting and dispensing work, a suction pump is used in the tip drive mechanism cover 15 and the area under the base 23. It is also preferable to reduce the pressure.

  The tip mounting place 2, the tip discarding place 3, the culture solution dispensing place 4, and the culture solution discarding place 4a are formed in a circle having a radius from the dispensing / dispensing arm turning shaft 5a to the tip 7 position. Be placed.

  Subsequently, the culture medium exchange operation will be described as an example of the dispensing operation. The culture medium exchange operation described below is an example.

First, the sorting / dispensing arm 5 is swung to the tip mounting place 2 and further lowered at that location to mount a new tip 7. Next, the dispensing and dispensing arm 5 is swung and lowered to the petri dish set 1 and all the old culture solution in the petri dish 1a is collected while the petri dish is tilted by raising the upper and lower pins provided on the petri dish set. Then, the dispensing / dispensing arm 5 is swung to the culture medium disposal location 4a, and the old collected culture medium is discarded. Further, the dispensing and dispensing arm 5 is swung and lowered to the culture medium dispensing place 4, and the new culture liquid temporarily stored in the reservoir or the like is separated when the culture medium is exchanged, and swung to the petri dish set table 1. Dispense the culture. Finally, the sorting / dispensing arm 5 is swung to the tip disposal place 3 and the tip 7 is discarded. However, there is a case where the old culture solution is discarded and then replaced with a new chip due to the problem of contamination by the chip.

  Next, sterilization and sterilization will be described. In addition, it is preferable to implement sterilization and sterilization treatment after the preparative dispensing operation.

  First, the separation / dispensing work area of the sorting / dispensing machine and the tip drive mechanism cover 15 are separated from each other. The dispensing arm seal packing 20 is installed, and as shown in FIG. 5, the bottom of the dispensing arm 5 is brought into close contact with the dispensing arm seal packing 20 by lowering the dispensing arm turning shaft 5a. The sorting and dispensing work area and the tip drive mechanism cover 15 can be isolated. For the dispensing arm seal packing 20, for example, an O-ring is used, and a material that can withstand high temperatures or various gases is selected.

  Next, there is a method for separating the sorting / dispensing work area of the sorting / dispensing work table from the area below the base plate 23. The petri dish set table seal packing is provided around the petri dish set rotating shaft 1b above the base plate 23. As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the bottom of the petri dish set table 1 is brought into close contact with the petri dish set base seal packing 22 as shown in FIG. The area below the base plate 23 can be isolated. For the petri dish set base seal packing 22, for example, an O-ring is used, and a material that can withstand high temperatures or various gases is selected.

  In this way, the sorting / dispensing work area is separated from the tip drive mechanism cover 15 and the area below the base plate 23 at the same time, and only the sorting / dispensing work area is sterilized and sterilized.

  Even if a gas such as high-temperature and high-pressure steam or ozone is introduced into the sorting / dispensing area in order to sterilize or sterilize the sorting / dispensing work area, they are placed in the chip drive mechanism cover 15 and the area below the base plate 23. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the gas from entering and protect each drive mechanism and the like.

  Here, the thickness of each material and the material of the preparatory dispensing area, the preparative dispensing arm seal packing 20 and the petri dish set stand seal packing 22 are varied depending on the temperature, pressure, introduced gas, etc. at which sterilization and sterilization are performed. It is possible to respond by changing the above.

Overall view of preparative dispensing equipment AA sectional view of the dispensing apparatus shown in FIG. Tip swivel mechanism diagram Chip removal mechanism Sectional view of the sealed state during sterilization and sterilization of the preparative dispenser Cross-sectional view of sealed state during sterilization and sterilization of preparative work table

1, the Petri dish set table 1a, dish 1b, dish set stage rotation shaft 2, the tip mounting location 3, the tip disposal location 4, culture prep location 4a, culture disposal location 5, preparative dispensing arm 5a, preparative min Note: Arm pivot shaft 5b, tip holder 6, tip removal mechanism 7, tip 8, petri dish rotation drive motor 8a, 8b, petri dish rotation pulley 9, petri dish positioning detection plate 9a, petri dish positioning sensor 10, petri dish raising / lowering air cylinder 10a, petri dish raising / lowering Guide shaft 11, tip lifting drive motor 12, mounting plate 13, tip positioning detection plate 13a, tip positioning sensor 14, tip turning drive motors 14a and 14b, tip turning pulley 15, tip drive mechanism cover 16, fixing plate 17, chip removal plate 18, spring 19, the hook plate 20, preparative dispensing arm seal Kkin 21, dish fixed arm 22, a petri dish set table seal packing 23, the base plate

Claims (6)

A chip holder for mounting a chip; a chip removing mechanism for removing the chip; a dispensing arm for holding the chip holder; a dispensing arm turning shaft for supporting the dispensing arm; A tip lifting / lowering drive motor and a tip turning drive motor for moving the dispensing / pivoting arm turning shaft up and down and turning freely, a tip drive mechanism cover for storing the tip raising / lowering drive motor and the tip turning drive motor, and the like. By lowering the arm, the dispensing and dispensing work area and the inside of the tip drive mechanism cover can be isolated, and when performing only various dispensing and sterilization processes such as autoclave and ozone sterilization in the dispensing and dispensing work area , from minute share Note region to the tip drive mechanism within the cover to prevent the gas inlet, yield from various gases such as high-temperature high-pressure steam and ozone tip drive mechanism within the cover Min share Note machine comprising a partial share dispensing arm seal packing that protects been the tip drive mechanism or the like.   2. The dispensing / dispensing machine according to claim 1, wherein a tip positioning detection plate and a tip positioning sensor for detecting the tip positioning detection plate are provided at the bottom of the sorting / dispensing arm pivot shaft to determine a tip position. A sorting / dispensing work table provided together with the sorting / dispensing machine according to claim 1, wherein a petri dish setting table for setting a petri dish for performing sorting / dispensing, and a petri dish A petri dish fixing arm to be fixed, a petri dish rotating shaft coupled to the petri dish set table, a petri dish rotating drive motor for rotating the petri dish rotating shaft, a petri dish lifting air cylinder for raising and lowering the petri dish set table, and the petri dish rotating drive motor And the petri dish raising and lowering air cylinder, etc., and the petri dish set table can be lowered to isolate the sorting and dispensing area from the base plate lower area, and only the dispensing and dispensing work area is autoclaved. when performing various disinfection and sterilization process, ozone sterilization, etc., to prevent gas flowing from the distribution share Note workspace to the base plate under area, high temperature and high pressure a steam And min share Note workbench comprising a dish setting stage seal packing that protects the housed said dish drive mechanism or the like to the base plate under regions from various gases such as ozone.   The petri dish positioning detection plate and the petri dish positioning detection plate are arranged at the bottom of the petri dish rotating shaft so that the tip can be swung and the rotational angle position of the petri dish is determined, thereby enabling the dispensing operation at an arbitrary position on the petri dish bottom surface. The sorting / dispensing workbench according to claim 3, wherein a petri dish positioning sensor is provided for detecting the above.   The sorting / dispensing workbench according to claim 4, wherein the sorting / dispensing workbench is provided with upper and lower pins for tilting the petri dish in order to easily and completely sort the solution in the petri dish.   A sorting / dispensing system comprising the sorting / dispensing machine according to any one of claims 1 and 2 and the sorting / dispensing work table according to any one of claims 3 to 5. In the pouring device, in order to prevent contaminants in the tip drive mechanism cover and the area under the base plate from entering the sorting / dispensing work area during the sorting / dispensing work, A preparative dispenser with a suction pump installed in the area below the base plate.

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