JP4715487B2 - Liquid supply device in dispenser etc. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus such as a dispenser for performing the discharge and / or suction of liquids.

  In general, in sample analysis processes, it is necessary to perform highly accurate positioning when dispensing reagents, moving containers, reacting specimens in containers, stirring, etc. For example, liquids such as reagents are placed in multiple containers. A dispenser that injects in a distributed manner, an agitator that stirs a sample in a test tube by inserting a stirring rod, an analysis of a sample in a container by stopping proximity of various sensors, an analyzer that promotes a reaction, and the like are known. Many of these apparatuses are provided with a linear positioning drive mechanism that linearly moves the operating body. For example, a dispenser is provided with a linear positioning drive mechanism that linearly operates needles that serve as a discharge port and a suction port for a reagent solution. .

  However, the conventional linear positioning drive mechanism uses a rotary motor with a rotating motor shaft as a power source, connects one end of a feed screw to the motor shaft via a coupling, and connects the middle to an operating body via a connecting nut member. Since it has a structure in which the other end is rotatably supported on the base body, the number of parts and the structure of the drive mechanism are complicated, and there is an inconvenience that increases the cost.

  Therefore, in order to eliminate the need for such a complicated mechanism and to make it inexpensive, a linear positioning mechanism using a linear motor as a power source has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). The linear motion motor described in Patent Document 1 includes a motor shaft formed of a screw shaft and a motor body in which a rotating nut that is screwed to the motor shaft is housed, and the motor shaft is relatively moved by rotational driving of the rotating nut. However, in the linear positioning mechanism, a so-called linear shaft motor can be applied. This linear shaft motor includes a motor shaft made up of rod-shaped magnets in which N poles and S poles are alternately arranged, and a motor main body with a coil member incorporated therein, and the motor shaft is relatively straightened by excitation of the coil member. It operates (for example, refer to Patent Documents 2 to 5).

  The linear positioning mechanism described in Patent Document 1 is applied to a cylinder unit that dispenses a reagent, and a piston is linearly operated by a driving force of a linear motion motor. It is also proposed to apply to linear motion of pipe material. For example, if a linear motion motor is connected to the dispensing device (2) disclosed in Patent Document 6, the linear motion of the needle (11) by the linear motion motor is possible.

However, in such a linear positioning mechanism, since the dispensing device (2) is interposed between the linear motion motor and the needle (11), it is difficult to make the device compact. In particular, in a linear positioning mechanism in which a plurality of needles (11) are connected in series or each of these needles (11) is independently linearly operated, not only the size of the apparatus and the complexity of the structure are significant. There is a problem that the cost is significantly increased. In this case, in addition to errors such as screwing tolerance of the linear motion motor itself, there are errors in connection between the linear motion motor and the dispensing device (2) and mounting errors of the needle (11) with respect to the dispensing device (2). This may affect the required positioning accuracy.
JP 2004-308690 A JP 2004-125699 A JP 2004-129440 A JP 2004-129441 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-297844 JP-A-2005-24477

The present invention, which has been made in order to wipe out such problems described above, yet one which linearly moves the liquid-supplying path using a linear shaft motor, which is formed in the center of the disk-shaped magnet since it used as a shaft hole for inserting fixing the pipe material the round hole, without passing through an intermediate member between the linear shaft motor and pipe material, the pipe material made of a liquid-supplying path, directly with the outer pipe manner only by linear motion, the needle portion formed at the lower end of the pipe, it is possible to perform a quantitative dispensing and dispensing by the discharge-suction of the liquid to the container, moreover, the linear motion of the liquid-supplying passage It is thereby enables compact linear positioning mechanism, in particular, or continuously provided a plurality of liquid-supplying passage, there these liquids supply path each independently linear positioning mechanism for linearly operating In not only simplify the miniaturization and structure of the apparatus becomes remarkable, encourages significant cost, and further, eliminates the increase in the error due to the intermediate member, the dispensing machine such that attained also improving the positioning accuracy and an object thereof is to provide a liquid supply apparatus.

Liquid supply apparatus in the dispensing machine or the like of the present invention in order to solve the above problems, in the liquid supply apparatus that performs discharging and / or inhalation of the liquid body, when to linearly operate the liquid-supplying passage by driving the motor The motor includes a motor shaft in which a magnet having a round hole formed in the center in an outer pipe is arranged in series, and a motor body with a coil member incorporated therein, and the motor body is excited by excitation of the coil member. In contrast to the linear shaft motor that relatively linearly moves the motor shaft, the round hole of the magnet is used as a shaft hole formed along the axis of the motor shaft . A pipe member having a needle part that serves as a liquid discharge port and / or a suction port at the lower end is inserted and fixed by protruding the needle part from the lower end of the outer pipe, and the pipe member that has been inserted and fixed is liquid. Allowed construction supply path, the pipe member, in accordance with the driving of the linear shaft motor, the outer pipe with that is linearly operated in a vertical direction, in order to discharge the liquid in the pipe material into the container from the needle portion It is characterized by comprising.

The present invention, by the structure described above, yet one which linearly moves the liquid-supplying path using a linear shaft motor, a disk-shaped magnet center which is formed in a circular hole of the insertion of the pipe member fixed since used as a shaft hole for, without the intervention of intermediate member between the linear shaft motor and pipe material, the pipe material made of a liquid-supplying channel, only directly to linearly move together with the outer pipe, from the needle portion formed at the lower end of the pipe, it is possible to perform a quantitative dispensing and dispensing by the discharge-suction of the liquid to the container, moreover, compact linear positioning mechanism to linearly move the liquid-supplying passage allows, in particular, or continuously provided a plurality of liquid-supplying passage, in the these liquids supply path each independently linear positioning mechanism to linear motion, Ya size of the apparatus Not only simplification of granulation becomes significant, encourages significant cost, and further, eliminates the increase in the error due to the intermediate member, thereby also improving the positioning accuracy.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a fluid supply apparatus that exemplifies an embodiment of the present invention as a preferred embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a fluid supply apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the fluid supply apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied to a dispenser (quantitative dispenser) that dispenses (discharges) a test solution (fluid) to a specimen container 2. In the specimen container 2, the test solution container 3 for storing the test solution, the pump 5 for sucking the test solution from the test solution container 3 through the tube 4, and the test solution sent from the pump 5 through the flexible tube 6 A pipe material (part of the fluid supply path) 7 to be discharged into the pipe, a linear motion motor 8 that linearly moves the pipe material 7 in the vertical direction, and a bracket 9 that supports the linear motion motor 8 and the pipe material 7. Composed.

  A linear motion motor 8 according to the first embodiment includes a motor shaft 10 formed of a bar magnet in which N poles and S poles are alternately arranged, and a motor main body 11 having a coil member therein, and the motor shaft is excited by excitation of the coil member. 10 is a linear shaft motor that relatively linearly operates 10. Normally, the motor shaft 10 of a linear shaft motor is configured by arranging disk-shaped magnets (permanent magnets) 12 constituting N poles and S poles in series in an outer pipe 13. The shaft 10 is formed with a shaft hole 10a penetrating the shaft center portion by applying a donut-shaped magnet 12 having a round hole formed in the center. The bracket 9 is a U-shaped fixing member in a front view. The bracket 9 fixes and supports the motor body 11 of the linear motor 8 and supports the motor shaft 10 slidably up and down via a pair of upper and lower guides 14. Yes.

  The pipe material 7 is, for example, a stainless steel tube, and a needle portion 7 a serving as a reagent solution discharge port is formed at a lower end portion of the pipe material 7, and an upper end portion is connected to the pump 5 via the tube 6. The linear motion of the pipe material 7 by the linear motion motor 8 is directly performed without an intermediate member. Specifically, the pipe material 7 is inserted and fixed in the shaft hole 10 a formed along the axis of the motor shaft 10, and the pipe material 7 inserted and fixed is linearly moved in the vertical direction based on the drive of the linear motion motor 8. Make it work. In this case, the shaft hole 10 a is used as a supply path, and the supply path as a flow path is configured as a pipe material 7.

  The pipe material 7 is preferably detachable with respect to the motor shaft 10 in order to enable cleaning and replacement. For example, an upper stopper plate 15 is fixed to the upper end portion of the pipe material 7 and a detachable lower stopper plate 16 is attached to the lower end portion. In this way, after the pipe material 7 is inserted into the shaft hole 10a of the motor shaft 10 from above, the lower stopper plate 16 is attached to the lower end portion of the pipe material 7 so that the pipe material 7 is attached to the motor shaft 10 and fixed. The pipe material 7 can be detached from the motor shaft 10 by the reverse procedure. In the present embodiment, the upper limit of the motor shaft 10 is detected by detecting the lower stopper plate 16 with the photo sensor 17 provided on the bracket 9. The bracket 9 is provided with a brake solenoid 18, and the brake shaft 18 is braked on the outer periphery of the motor shaft 10, whereby the stop position of the motor shaft 10 is maintained.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the fluid supply apparatus 1B according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. However, about the structure common to the said embodiment, the same code | symbol as the said embodiment is attached | subjected and description of the said embodiment is used.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a fluid supply apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the fluid supply apparatus 1B according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different from the above embodiment in that the motor shaft 10 is linearly guided by a linear guide mechanism 19. The linear guide mechanism 19 is, for example, a U-shaped movable part 20 that integrally supports upper and lower ends of the motor shaft 10 and guides the movable part 20 to the fixed part 21 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. A guide portion 22 is provided. When the linear guide mechanism 19 is used to linearly guide the motor shaft 10, not only the support strength of the motor shaft 10 is increased, but also the motor shaft 10 is linearly guided with higher accuracy than the motor body 11 to improve positioning accuracy. Can be planned.

[Third embodiment]
Next, a fluid supply apparatus 1C according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. However, about the structure common to the said embodiment, the same code | symbol as the said embodiment is attached | subjected and description of the said embodiment is used.

  FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a fluid supply apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the fluid supply device 1C according to the third embodiment of the present invention shows an application example to a dispensing device that performs a dispensing step of sucking, storing, and discharging a test solution. The point which uses a linear stepping motor as the dynamic motor 23, and the point provided with the cylinder unit 24 instead of a pump differ from the said embodiment. The linear stepping motor used as the linear motion motor 23 includes a motor shaft 25 formed of a screw shaft, and a motor main body 26 provided with a rotating nut screwed into the motor shaft 25. The motor shaft 25 is driven by rotation of the rotating nut. The motor shaft 25 needs to be prevented from rotating when used, but is not only cheaper than a linear shaft motor but also has no brake applied. There is also an advantage that the stop position of the motor shaft 25 can be held. Further, if the pipe material 7 is inserted and fixed in the shaft hole 25a of the motor shaft 25 and a test solution (usually maintained at a low temperature) is flowed, the temperature rise of the motor shaft 25 can be suppressed. It becomes possible to suppress tolerance fluctuations and improve positioning accuracy.

The motor shaft 25 of the third embodiment is linearly guided by the linear guide mechanism 27 as in the second embodiment. The linear guide mechanism 27 is, for example, a U-shaped movable portion 28 that integrally supports upper and lower ends of the motor shaft 25 and guides the movable portion 28 to the fixed portion 29 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. A guide unit 30 is provided. When the motor shaft 25 is linearly guided using such a linear guide mechanism 27, not only the support strength of the motor shaft 25 is increased, but also the motor shaft 25 is linearly guided with higher accuracy than the motor body 26, and the positioning accuracy is improved. Can be planned. The cylinder unit 24 includes, for example, a syringe 31 that stores a test solution, a piston 32 that slides inside the syringe 31, and a motor (linear stepping motor) 33 that linearly operates the piston 32. .

In the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the fluid (sample solution) supply path in the fluid supply device 1 that discharges and / or sucks fluid is linearly operated by driving the linear motor 8. The motor shaft 10 of the linear shaft motor 8 has donut-shaped magnets 12 arranged in series in an outer pipe 13, and the pipe material 7 is inserted through a round hole of the magnet 12 formed along the axis. The pipe material 7 having the needle portion 7a formed at the lower end portion is inserted into and fixed to the shaft hole 10a of the magnet 12 with the needle portion 7a protruding from the lower end of the outer pipe 13, the pipe member 7 which is inserted and fixed allowed construction to the liquid supply path, the pipe material 7, in accordance with the driving of the linear motor 8, by linearly moves in the vertical direction together with the outer pipe 13, pies The liquid in the timber 7, so has a configuration to eject the needle portion 7a in the container 2, the shaft hole 10a of the magnet 12 round hole in the center of which is formed, quantitative dispensing performing discharge-suction of reagent to vessels and dispensing device, the pipe material 7 serving as a part of the liquid-supplying passage communicating with the pump 5 and the cylinder unit 24 can be used as an insertion hole for inserting fixing, also, such as the Patent Document 1 the cylinder unit mechanism, the dispensing apparatus and the cylinder itself has a function of inhalation, reservoir and discharge the test solution, even for the cylinder portion 31 of the cylinder unit 24, be used as a liquid material supply path having a reservoir function it can. As a result, despite one which linearly moves the liquid-supplying path using a linear shaft motor 8, without using the intermediate member, the pipe material 7 made of a liquid material supply passage, directly linearly move together with the outer pipe 13 only causes, straight from the needle portion 7a formed at the lower end of the pipe 7, it is possible to perform a quantitative dispensing and dispensing operation by discharging及-suction of the liquid to the container 2, moreover, the liquid material supply channel enables compact linear positioning mechanism to be operated, in particular, or continuously provided a plurality of fluid supply passage, in the these liquids supply path each independently linear positioning mechanism to linear motion, the device Not only will the miniaturization and simplification of the structure become prominent, but also a significant cost reduction can be achieved. Further, an increase in errors due to the intermediate member can be eliminated, and positioning accuracy can be improved. There is.

In addition, the fluid supply path is constituted by the pipe material 7, the pipe material is inserted and fixed in the shaft hole 10 a of the motor shaft 10, and the pipe material 7 inserted and fixed is configured in the fluid supply path, whereby the linear shaft motor Since the linear movement is performed based on the driving of the pipe 8, the pipe material 7 can be directly operated without interposing an intermediate member between the linear shaft motor 8 and the pipe material 7. As a result, the pipe The linear positioning mechanism for linearly moving the material 7 can be made compact. In particular, in a linear positioning mechanism in which a plurality of pipe members 7 are connected in series or each of these pipe members 7 is independently linearly operated, not only the downsizing of the apparatus and the simplification of the structure become remarkable. A significant cost reduction can be achieved. In addition, since the increase in error due to the intermediate member is eliminated, the positioning accuracy can be improved.

  Moreover, since the pipe material 7 is detachable from the motor shaft 10, it can be arbitrarily cleaned and replaced. For example, it is possible to cope with a usage mode such as replacement with a new pipe material 7 every fixed period of use or removing the pipe material 7 and washing every time the type of the test solution is changed. Moreover, since the diameter dimension of the pipe material 7 can be arbitrarily selected within the range of the diameter dimension of the shaft hole 10a, there is an advantage that the versatility of the dispenser (fluid supply device) is enhanced. Moreover, since the pipe material 7 of this embodiment has the needle part 7a in one end part, compared with the case where a needle is comprised with another member, reduction of a number of parts and cost reduction can be aimed at.

  The linear motion motor 8 of the present embodiment includes a motor shaft 10 composed of a bar magnet in which N poles and S poles are alternately arranged, and a motor main body 11 with a coil member provided therein, and the motor is excited by excitation of the coil member. Since the linear shaft motor relatively moves the shaft 10 linearly, it is possible not only to ensure as long a linear operation stroke as possible, but also to prevent the motor shaft 10 from rotating.

It is sectional drawing which shows the fluid supply apparatus which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the fluid supply apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the fluid supply apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1A Fluid supply device 1B Fluid supply device 1C Fluid supply device 2 Sample container 3 Sample solution container 4 Tube 5 Pump 6 Tube 7 Pipe material 7a Needle part 8 Direct acting motor 9 Bracket 10 Motor shaft 10a Shaft hole 11 Motor body 12 Magnet 13 Outer pipe 14 Guide 15 Upper Stop Plate 16 Lower Stop Plate 17 Photo Sensor 18 Brake Solenoid 19 Linear Guide Mechanism 20 Movable Part 21 Fixed Part 22 Guide Part 23 Linear Motion Motor 24 Cylinder Unit 25 Motor Shaft 25a Shaft Hole 26 Motor Main Body 27 Linear Guide Mechanism 28 Movable part 29 Fixed part 30 Guide part 31 Syringe 32 Piston

Claims (4)

In the liquid supply apparatus in the discharge and / or dispensing device performs suction or the like of the fluid, when to linearly operate the liquid-supplying passage by driving the motor,
The motor includes a motor shaft in which a magnet having a round hole formed in the center in an outer pipe is arranged in series, and a motor body with a coil member installed therein, and the motor body is excited by the excitation of the coil member. And a linear shaft motor that relatively linearly moves the motor shaft,
Utilizing the round hole of the magnet as a shaft hole formed along the axis of the motor shaft,
A pipe member in which a needle part serving as a liquid discharge port and / or a suction port is formed at the lower end of the shaft hole of the magnet is inserted and fixed by protruding the needle part from the lower end of the outer pipe, and the insertion fixing Make the pipe material in the liquid supply path,
The pipe member, in accordance with the driving of the linear shaft motor, the outer pipe is thereby linearly moves in the vertical direction together, and characterized in that the liquid in the pipe and configured to discharge the containers from the needle portion liquid supply apparatus in the dispensing machine or the like to be. Liquid supply apparatus in the dispensing machine or the like according to claim 1, characterized in that the detachable said pipe with respect to the motor shaft. The end portion on the pipe via a flexible tube, a pump and / or liquids in the dispensing machine or the like according to claim 1 or 2 cylinder unit is characterized in that it is connected Feeding device. The pipe material is attached to the outer pipe via an upper stopper plate fixed to an upper end portion of the pipe member and a lower stopper plate detachably attached to a lower end portion. The liquid fluid supply apparatus in the dispensing machine etc. in any one of 1 thru | or 3 .