JP5500027B2 - Sample container transfer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sample container transport device used in an analyzer such as a gas chromatograph or a liquid chromatograph.

  When each sample stored in multiple sample containers is sequentially collected and introduced into an analyzer such as a gas chromatograph or a liquid chromatograph for automatic analysis, the desired sample containers are sequentially ordered from the rack in which each sample container is stored. It is necessary to take it out and transport it to a predetermined location of a sample collection unit having a sampling needle or the like. As a device for carrying such a transport, a sample container is gripped with a gripper and moved in three axial directions of the X, Y, and Z axes, or a gripper is gripped with a gripper by a horizontal arm attached to the tip. The sample container is moved in a cylindrical coordinate system (R-θ-Z) (see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the sample container transport device 50 that moves the sample container within the cylindrical coordinate system. A plurality of sample container holding holes 52 are concentrically provided in the donut-shaped rack 51, and an arm base 54 that supports the horizontal arm 53 is disposed at the center opening of the rack 51 so as to be rotatable and vertically movable. . The horizontal arm 53 is movable in the longitudinal direction on the arm base 54, and a gripper 55 for holding the sample container is attached to one end thereof. The gripper 55 has a plurality of finger portions 552 protruding downward from the lower surface of the gripper main body 551, and grips the upper part of the sample container by operating the driving mechanism in the gripper main body 551 to change the interval between the finger portions 552. Can be released or released. Further, the gripper 55 can move in the cylindrical coordinate system (R-θ-Z) by the rotation and vertical movement of the arm base 54 and the horizontal movement of the horizontal arm 53. With the above configuration, the sample container transport device 50 selectively takes out an arbitrary sample container from the rack 51, passes it over the other sample containers in the rack 51, and transports it to a predetermined transport destination outside the rack. can do.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-170520

  In the above-described conventional sample container transport device 50, when a sample container in the rack 51 is taken out and transported, first, as shown in FIG. The finger part 552 of the gripper 55 is inserted, and the space between the finger parts 552 is narrowed to hold the sample container 57. Next, as shown in FIG. 12B, the horizontal arm 53 is raised, the sample container 57 held by the finger 552 is lifted to a position higher than the other containers, and the sample container 57 is moved horizontally in that state. . In such transport, there is a risk that the sample container 57 may fail to be gripped and fail to lift the sample container 57, or the sample container 57 once gripped may be dropped during transport. Further, in order to avoid interference with other sample containers in the rack 51, the gripper main body 551 and the horizontal arm 53 must be disposed above the sample container 57, and the gripper main body 551 has a finger 552 drive. Since the mechanism is incorporated, the gripper main body 551 has a certain thickness T, which is a limitation in reducing the height of the entire apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sample container transport device that is less likely to cause trouble during transport of the sample container and can be downsized. It is in.

A sample container transport device according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems,
A disc-shaped moving plate a plurality have a through-hole that a) the sample container is inserted, the sample container inserted into the through hole by rotating around axis a center of the circle into a plurality of travel route A moving plate that moves along the horizontal direction,
b) are arranged and fixed below the movable plate, a support Ru solid Teiita a portion of the sample container that will be moved by the moving plate by covering a portion of the moving plate at the bottom,
c) an extraction plate having an extraction hole that is movable so as to straddle the plurality of movement paths while covering the moving plate of the portion not covered with the fixed plate ;
d) a container receiving portion for receiving the sample container below the extraction hole and moving the sample container between the position and a predetermined transport destination position ;
Wherein the plurality of the moving path and the moving path of the takeout hole is characterized that you have crossed.

  In the sample container transport device according to the present invention, the fixed plate and the extraction plate are disposed below the moving plate, and the bottom portion of the sample container inserted into the plurality of through holes of the moving plate is supported by the fixed plate and the extraction plate. When trying to take out one of the supported sample containers, first, the moving plate and the extracting plate are moved, and an extraction hole is arranged immediately below the sample container, and is kept waiting below that. Pass the sample container to the container receiving part. Next, a container receiving part conveys a sample container to a predetermined conveyance destination. In this way, the sample container is not lifted and transported, but is received and transported below, so that troubles such as failure of gripping the sample container or dropping the gripped sample container during transport do not occur. Further, since the container receiving portion only needs to support the sample container below, it is not necessary to arrange a mechanism such as a gripper below the sample container, and the height of the apparatus can be lowered accordingly. In addition, a transport arm for moving the sample container horizontally under the extraction plate can be placed on the side of the sample container and moved within the height range of the sample container. I don't need it.

The perspective view of the sample container conveying apparatus which concerns on one Example of this invention. The top view of a moving board and an extraction board. The top view of a fixed board and an extraction board. The figure which shows each movement path | route of the through-hole of a movement board, and the extraction hole of an extraction board. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of an raising / lowering unit, (a) is a perspective view of the raising / lowering unit in the state which the container receiving part lowered | hung, (b) is a perspective view of the raising / lowering unit in the state which the container receiving part raised. . It is a figure explaining the structure and operation | movement of an opening-and-closing mechanism, (a) and (c) are the top views and side views of the opening-and-closing plate vicinity in the state which the raising / lowering arm lowered, (b) and (d) It is the top view and side view of the opening-and-closing plate vicinity in the raised state. The perspective view of a conveyance unit. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of a sample container conveying apparatus. It is a figure which shows the modification of a fixed plate and an extraction plate, (a) is a top view when an extraction hole has overlapped with the movement path | route of the outermost periphery through-hole, (b) is a through-hole with an extraction hole being an innermost periphery It is a top view when it overlaps with the movement path of. It is a figure which shows the other modification of a fixed plate and an extraction plate, (a) is a top view when an extraction hole has overlapped with the movement path of the outermost through-hole, (b) is an extraction hole of innermost circumference It is a top view when it overlaps with the movement path | route of a through-hole. The perspective view of the conventional sample container conveyance apparatus. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the conventional sample container conveying apparatus, (a) is a side view of the gripper periphery before lifting a sample container, (b) is a side view of the gripper periphery after lifting a sample container.

  An embodiment of a sample container transport device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The sample container transport device 10 according to the present embodiment is used when sequentially collecting each sample accommodated in a plurality of sample containers and introducing the sample into an analyzer such as a gas chromatograph or a liquid chromatograph. An arbitrary container is selectively taken out from the plurality of sample containers held in the container and conveyed to the sample collection unit 30 (see FIG. 1).

  The rack 11 is fixed with a rotatable moving plate 12 in which through holes 121 into which sample containers are inserted are concentrically formed, and a cut portion 131 that is disposed below the moving plate 12 and is cut out in an arc shape. It is comprised from the board 13 and the taking-out board 14 which can rotate, plugging the notch part 131 (refer FIG. 2, 3).

  The movable plate 12 is driven to rotate about the rotation shaft 122 by the first drive unit 41 (see FIG. 8). The first drive unit 41 includes a drive motor, gears, and the like, and is controlled by the control unit 45. As the moving plate 12 rotates, each sample container inserted into the through hole 121 revolves while sliding on the upper surfaces of the fixed plate 13 and the extraction plate 14. The moving plate 12 may be a single plate, but in order to hold the sample container more stably, it is composed of two or more plates separated as shown in FIG. Is desirable.

  The cut-out portion 131 provided in the fixed plate 13 is a portion cut out so as to straddle all the movement paths A of the plurality of through holes 121 of the moving plate 12, and the extraction plate 14 is disposed here (FIG. 3, 4). Thereby, each sample container revolved by the moving plate 12 passes over both the fixed plate 13 and the extraction plate 14.

  The extraction plate 14 is a disc having a circumference along the arc of the cutout portion 131, and the upper surface thereof is the same height as the upper surface of the fixed plate 13. The extraction plate 14 is driven by the second drive unit 42 (see FIG. 8), and rotates around the rotation shaft 142 while closing the cutout unit 131. The second drive unit 42 includes a drive motor, a gear, and the like, and is controlled by the control unit 45. An extraction hole 141 through which one sample container can pass is provided in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the extraction plate 14. The extraction hole 141 revolves around the rotation shaft 142 as the extraction plate 14 rotates, and the movement path B straddles all the movement paths A of the through holes 121 (see FIG. 4). In addition, the shape of the extraction plate 14 should just be what can block the cutting part 131, and may be not only circular but a fan shape.

  Below the extraction plate 14, a container receiving member 19 that receives the sample container, an elevating unit 17 that raises / lowers the container receiving member 19, and a sample container received by the container receiving member 19 are horizontally moved to move the sample collecting unit 30. A transport unit 18 is disposed for transporting (see FIGS. 1 and 5).

  The container receiving member 19 includes a U-shaped member 191 having a U-shaped cross section having a groove opened to the side, and a container support 192 provided on the upper surface of the U-shaped member 191. The U-shaped member 191 translates up and down along the axis 193. The container support part 192 may have an elastic member such as a spring in order to reduce the impact of the sample container falling from the extraction hole 141.

  The elevating unit 17 has an elevating arm 22 that is operated by the servo motor 21 of the third drive unit 43 (see FIG. 8). One end of the lifting arm 22 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the servo motor 21. A roller (not shown) is attached to the side surface of the other end of the lifting arm 22, and the roller is inserted into the groove of the U-shaped member 191. When the lift arm 22 is rotated by the servo motor 21, the roller of the lift arm 22 moves up and down while moving in the groove of the U-shaped member 191. As a result, the container receiving member 19 translates up and down along the shaft 193.

  An opening / closing plate 15 is disposed below the extraction hole 141. The opening / closing plate 15 rotates about the rotation shaft 151 at a position shifted from the take-out hole 141, thereby closing the take-out hole 141 as shown in FIG. 5 (a) or opening as shown in FIG. 5 (b). I will let you. The opening / closing plate 15 is not limited to a rotating plate, and may be a plate that moves linearly.

  The opening / closing plate 15 rotates in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the container receiving member 19. When the container receiving member 19 is lifted, the opening / closing plate 15 is shifted laterally from just below the take-out hole 141 (see FIG. 5B). When descending, it returns to the position immediately below the extraction hole 141 (see FIG. 5A). By interlocking the container receiving member 19 and the opening / closing plate 15, the container receiving member 19 can be moved up and down and the opening / closing plate 15 can be rotated by a single drive motor.

  Various mechanisms can be used as the opening / closing mechanism 23 for interlocking the container receiving member 19 and the opening / closing plate 15. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the rotating shaft 151 is positioned higher than the lowered lifting arm 22. It is possible to employ a member using a rotating member 152 fixed to the side and a spring 153 attached to the side surface of the opening / closing plate 15. The rotating member 152 rotates integrally with the rotating shaft 151 and the opening / closing plate 15, and a portion protruding in the radial direction from the rotating shaft 151 is disposed immediately above the lifting arm 22 in a lowered state. When the opening / closing plate 15 rotates about the rotation shaft 151, the spring 153 applies an elastic force to the opening / closing plate 15 so as to prevent the rotation.

  In the opening / closing mechanism 23 configured as described above, when the elevating arm 22 (elevating member) rotates upward and comes into contact with the edge 154 (contact portion) on the lower surface of the rotating member 152, the rotating member 152 contacts the rotating shaft 151 at the edge 154. Receiving force from the direction inclined to. Thereby, the rotating member 152 rotates around the rotating shaft 151 together with the rotating shaft 151 and the opening / closing plate 15. When the container receiving member 19 is raised by the elevating arm 22 and the distance from the upper surface of the container support 192 to the opening / closing plate 15 approaches the height of the sample container, the rotating member 152 rotates to the position shown in FIG. The rotating member 152 is not directly above the lifting arm 22. Even if the raising / lowering arm 22 is further raised from there, the raising / lowering arm 22 only rises while contacting the side surface of the rotating member 152, and does not rotate the rotating member 152 any more. Once the lift arm 22 that has been raised is lowered and separated from the rotating member 152, the opening / closing plate 15 returns to the original position by the action of the spring 153 and closes the extraction hole 141.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the transport arm 181 of the transport unit 18 rotates about the rotation shaft 142, and a holding portion 182 for preventing the sample container from overturning is provided at its end so as to surround the sample container 46. ing. The holding portion 182 is cut off at a portion overlapping the passage region of the container receiving member 19 so as not to interfere with the container receiving member 19 moving up and down. When the transfer arm 181 rotates, the end of the transfer arm 181 moves between a position below the extraction hole 141 and a predetermined position of the sample collection unit 30. This rotation is performed by the fourth drive unit 44 having a drive motor, gears, and the like and controlled by the control unit 45 (see FIG. 8). In addition, although the conveyance arm 181 and the extraction plate 14 may be rotated independently of each other, they may be rotated integrally. Thereby, the conveyance arm 181 and the extraction plate 14 can be rotated by one drive motor. In this case, the 2nd drive part 42 and the 4th drive part 44 which are shown in FIG. 8 can be integrated, and an apparatus structure can be simplified.

  The control unit 45 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, and controls each of the drive units 41 to 44 based on a predetermined program (see FIG. 8). For example, by operating the first drive unit 41 to control the rotation angle of the moving plate 12, the desired through-hole 121 is moved to a point C where its own movement path A overlaps the movement path B of the extraction hole 141 ( (See FIG. 4). Further, the extraction hole 141 is moved to the point C by operating the second driving unit 42 to control the rotation angle of the extraction plate 14. Thereby, the desired through-hole 121 and the extraction hole 141 can be piled up and down. Note that each rotation angle may be calculated each time the sample container is transported, or those values may be stored in a memory in advance and appropriately read during transport.

  Next, the operation of the sample container transport device 10 will be described. First, an operator loads a plurality of sample containers containing samples on the rack 11 and instructs the control unit 45 to start operation. In response to this, the control unit 45 drives the first drive unit 41 and the second drive unit 42 to rotate the moving plate 12 and the extraction plate 14, and arranges the extraction hole 141 directly below the sample container to be extracted. At this time, the extraction hole 141 is closed by the opening / closing plate 15, and the bottom of the sample container is supported by the opening / closing plate 15.

  Next, the control unit 45 drives the third driving unit 43 to raise the lifting arm 22 and lift the container receiving member 19. At this time, the opening / closing plate 15 rotates in conjunction with the movement of the elevating arm 22, and the take-out hole 141 is opened. As a result, the sample container supported by the opening / closing plate 15 falls from the extraction hole 141 and is received by the container receiving member 19.

  Subsequently, when the control unit 45 drives the third drive unit 43 to lower the lifting arm 22, the opening / closing plate 15 rotates in conjunction with this and closes the extraction hole 141. When the elevating arm 22 is lowered to a predetermined position, the control unit 45 drives the fourth driving unit 44 to move the transport unit 18 horizontally and transport the sample container to the sample collecting unit 30. At this time, not only the transport unit 18 but also the container receiving member 19 and the lifting unit 17 that support the sample container are moved horizontally. When the transport unit 18 receives the sample container from the container receiving member 19 below the extraction hole 141, only the transport unit 18 needs to be moved horizontally. In this case, a combination of the container receiving member 19 and the transport unit 18 corresponds to the container receiving portion of the present invention.

  The sample collection unit 30 collects the sample in the conveyed sample container with a sampling needle or the like. At that time, the sample container may be heated to vaporize the sample components, and the gas filled in the head space of the sample container may be collected as the sample gas.

  When the sample collection by the sample collection unit 30 is completed, the control unit 45 drives the fourth drive unit 44 to operate the transport unit 18 and return the sample container to the lower side of the extraction hole 141. Next, the 3rd drive part 43 is driven, the raising / lowering arm 22 is raised, and the container receiving member 19 is lifted. The opening / closing plate 15 rotates in conjunction with this movement, so that the upper surface of the sample container completely deviates from immediately below the extraction hole 141 before reaching the extraction hole 141, thereby opening the extraction hole 141. When the container receiving member 19 is further lifted in this state, the sample container passes through the extraction hole 141 and moves to the upper surface side of the extraction plate 14. At this time, the sample container is inserted into the through hole 121 of the moving plate 12, and the lateral movement is restricted by the through hole 121. When the sample container is fully raised, its bottom surface is slightly lower than the top surface of the extraction plate 14. Since the bottom edge of a normal sample container is rounded, when the extraction plate 14 is rotated in this state, the edge of the extraction hole 141 easily enters between the sample container and the container receiving member 19. Thereby, the sample container can be supported on the upper surface of the extraction plate 14, and the sample container can be returned to the rack 11.

  As described above, the sample container transport apparatus 10 does not lift and transport the sample container, but receives and transports the sample container below, so that the gripping of the sample container fails or the gripped sample container is dropped during transport. Such trouble does not occur. Further, since the container receiving member 19 supports the sample container below, it is not necessary to arrange a mechanism such as a gripper below the sample container, and the height of the apparatus can be lowered accordingly. Further, the transfer arm 181 can be arranged on the side of the sample container and horizontally moved within the range of the height of the sample container, and an extra height for the transfer arm 181 is not required.

  It should be noted that the above embodiment is merely an example, and it is apparent that appropriate modifications and corrections can be made in accordance with the spirit of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a circular opening (cutout part 131b) straddling the movement path A of each through-hole may be provided in the fixed plate 13b, and the opening may be closed with a disk-shaped extraction plate 14b. In this case, by rotating the extraction plate 14b, the extraction hole 141b can be overlapped with the movement path A of each through hole. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a rectangular cut (cut portion 131c) straddling the movement path A of each through hole may be provided in the fixed plate 13c, and the cut may be blocked by a rectangular extraction plate 14c. In this case, the extraction hole 141c can be overlapped with the movement path A of each through-hole by moving the extraction plate 14c in parallel along the cutout portion 131c.

The moving plate only needs to be able to move the desired sample container inserted into the through-hole to the moving path of the take-out hole, and is not limited to a rotating plate, and may be a plate that moves in parallel in a horizontal plane. .
When the pitch of each through-hole of a movement board is large, you may move the extraction hole of an extraction board so that the downward direction of the part between each through-hole may pass. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an undesired sample container from dropping from the extraction hole without closing the extraction hole with the opening / closing plate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 50 ... Sample container conveying apparatus 11, 51 ... Rack 12 ... Moving plate 121 ... Through-hole 122 ... Rotating shaft 13, 13b, 13c ... Fixed plate 131, 131b, 131c ... Cut-out part 14, 14b, 14c ... Extraction plate 141 141b, 141c ... extraction hole 142 ... rotary shaft 15 ... opening / closing plate 151 ... rotating shaft 152 ... rotating member 153 ... spring 154 ... edge 17 ... lifting unit 18 ... conveying unit 181 ... conveying arm 182 ... holding portion 19 ... container receiving member 191: U-shaped member 192 ... Container support 193 ... Shaft 21 ... Servo motor 22 ... Elevating arm 23 ... Opening / closing mechanism 30 ... Sample collection unit 41 ... First drive unit 42 ... Second drive unit 43 ... Third drive unit 44 ... fourth drive unit 45 ... control unit 46, 57 ... sample container 52 ... holding hole 53 ... horizontal arm 54 ... arm base 55 ... gripper 551 ... gripper body 552 ... Part

Claims (5)

A disc-shaped moving plate a plurality have a through-hole that a) the sample container is inserted, the sample container inserted into the through hole by rotating around axis a center of the circle into a plurality of travel route A moving plate that moves along the horizontal direction,
b) are arranged and fixed below the movable plate, a support Ru solid Teiita a portion of the sample container that will be moved by the moving plate by covering a portion of the moving plate at the bottom,
c) an extraction plate having an extraction hole that is movable so as to straddle the plurality of movement paths while covering the moving plate of the portion not covered with the fixed plate ;
d) a container receiving portion for receiving the sample container below the extraction hole and moving the sample container between the position and a predetermined transport destination position ;
The removal hole sample container transport device moving path and the plurality of travel route is characterized that you have crossed the. The portion not covered with the fixed plate is a part of the arcuate shape of the moving plate ,
The sample container transport device according to claim 1, wherein the extraction plate is a disc having a circumference along the arc and rotating along the arc. The container receiving part raises / lowers the sample container below the extraction hole;
3. The sample according to claim 1, further comprising an opening / closing plate that opens the extraction hole in conjunction with the rising of the container receiving portion and closes the extraction hole in conjunction with the lowering of the container receiving portion. Container transport device. The open / close plate rotates about a rotation axis at a position shifted from the take-out hole to open and close the take-out hole;
An elevating member that elevates as the container receiver moves up and down;
A contact portion that is fixed to the rotating shaft and receives a force from a direction inclined with respect to the rotating shaft when in contact with the elevating member, and rotates together with the rotating shaft when the force is applied to the contact portion. The sample container transport device according to claim 3, further comprising a rotating member.   When the sample container under the extraction hole rises by the container receiving portion and moves to the upper surface side of the extraction plate, the sample container and the container receiver whose lateral movement is restricted by the through hole 5. The sample container transport device according to claim 3, wherein the sample container is moved while the edge of the extraction hole is inserted between the portions, and the sample container is supported on the upper surface of the extraction plate.

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