JP6484933B2 - Suction / discharge nozzles used in analyzers - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a nozzle for sucking / discharging a liquid used in an analyzer. In particular, the present invention relates to a nozzle for sucking / discharging a liquid having a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled.

  In automatic analyzers used in the fields of immunochemical tests and biochemical tests, suction / discharge nozzles are used for dispensing samples and reagents. When the reaction container used for analysis is washed and used repeatedly, there is a washing step of sucking and removing the reaction liquid and then supplying the washing liquid into the reaction container and removing the washing liquid by suction. Furthermore, in the immunochemical test, the inner surface of the reaction vessel or the magnetic particles contained in the reaction vessel are used as the immobilized phase, and the capture molecule that binds to the component to be analyzed is fixed to the immobilized phase. In order to remove unnecessary components, the reaction liquid in the reaction vessel is removed by suction, and the cleaning liquid is supplied, and then the cleaning liquid is suctioned and removed together with unnecessary components to remove unnecessary components. B / F (Bound / Free) separation Or there is a process called B / F cleaning. In these cleaning steps, a cleaning liquid supply nozzle and a cleaning liquid suction nozzle are used.

  The suction / discharge nozzle used for dispensing may use a disposable nozzle tip, but it may be used repeatedly after washing the nozzle. In many cases, the cleaning liquid supply nozzle and the cleaning liquid suction nozzle used in the process of cleaning the reaction container, B / F separation or B / F cleaning are cleaned and repeatedly used.

  The nozzles used for cleaning are generally separate nozzles for the discharge of the cleaning liquid and the suction nozzle for the reaction liquid and the cleaning liquid. However, when using a small reaction container or a mechanism for moving the nozzle section In order to simplify or reduce the size, there is a case where a plurality of nozzles are bundled into a single collective nozzle. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a nozzle that supplies a cleaning liquid for cleaning a reaction vessel and a nozzle that sucks a cleaning liquid after cleaning, and a collective nozzle in which four nozzles are fixed together.

  When the collecting nozzle described above is immersed in a sample, reagent or reaction solution, or when the sample, reagent or reaction solution is sucked with the collecting nozzle described above and then used repeatedly by washing the nozzle, it is immersed or sucked. Since the components contained in the liquid adhere to the inner and outer surfaces of the nozzle, it is necessary to clean the nozzle sufficiently so that the adhering components do not enter the liquid to be handled next.

  In general, cleaning of a nozzle that is repeatedly used in an automatic analyzer is performed by moving a movable nozzle to a nozzle cleaning means and then using a nozzle cleaning liquid as the nozzle as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 3. Wash by spraying.

JP 2010-019746 A JP 2011-227065 A JP2013-134142A

  When cleaning a single nozzle, after moving the nozzle to the cleaning means, the nozzle inner surface is cleaned by passing the nozzle cleaning liquid through the inside of the nozzle, and the nozzle outer surface sprays the nozzle cleaning liquid onto the nozzle outer surface. Although the cleaning is performed, a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained by appropriately adjusting the shape of the cleaning means, the components, amount, supply pressure, and the like of the nozzle cleaning liquid.

  On the other hand, when cleaning a collective nozzle in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled, the liquid handled by the nozzle rises on the outer surface of the nozzle through a portion of the outer surface of the nozzle that becomes a gap between the plurality of nozzles or a groove between the nozzles May occur, and the liquid handled up to a height at which the nozzle cleaning liquid for cleaning the nozzle outer surface cannot be ejected may rise. The liquid rising on the outer surface of the nozzle may be dried to deposit salts and the like contained therein, and the deposits may gradually accumulate. In this case, not only cleaning of the nozzle cannot be performed sufficiently, but also the precipitate may fall into the reaction vessel, or the precipitate may fall into the analyzer while moving the nozzle, causing contamination. There is.

  The upper end of the outer surface of the nozzle where the liquid has risen is fixed to the nozzle fixing part, which is generally a structure connected to a mechanism for moving the nozzle part, and has a large surface area. For this reason, spraying the nozzle cleaning liquid onto the fixed portion is not generally performed because it may cause further contamination of the automatic analyzer.

  Patent Documents 1 and 3 disclose nozzle cleaning means, but do not mention cleaning of the collective nozzles by the nozzle cleaning means. Patent Document 2 discloses a collective nozzle having a cover for preventing the liquid from splashing when washing the reaction vessel, but does not mention cleaning of the collective nozzle itself.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is a nozzle for sucking / discharging a liquid having a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled, which is used in an analyzer, and can be efficiently washed and is included in the liquid handled by the nozzle. It is intended to provide a nozzle in which precipitates such as salts are unlikely to accumulate on the outer surface of the nozzle.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has been reached as a result of intensive studies focusing on the shape of the collective nozzle for sucking / discharging the liquid having a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled.

That is, the first aspect of the present invention is:
A collective nozzle for sucking / discharging a liquid having a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled,
The plurality of nozzles are fixed by a fixing portion,
The plurality of nozzles protrude from a lower end of the fixed portion,
The upper portions of the plurality of nozzles protruding from the lower end are covered with a cover having an outer diameter smaller than that of the fixed portion so that the plurality of nozzles are not exposed and a gap around the plurality of nozzles is reduced. , The collecting nozzle.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of nozzles are nozzles including at least one or more nozzles for discharging liquid and one or more nozzles for sucking liquid. It is a collection nozzle as described in one mode.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the collective nozzle according to the first or second aspect, which is movable in a vertical direction by means for moving the collective nozzle.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the collective nozzle according to the third aspect, which is further movable in the horizontal direction by means for moving the collective nozzle.

Furthermore, the fifth aspect of the present invention provides
A method of cleaning the collective nozzle according to any one of the first to fourth aspects by spraying a nozzle cleaning liquid by a nozzle cleaning means,
In the cleaning method, the nozzle cleaning liquid is sprayed at a portion exposed from the cover of a plurality of nozzles of the collective nozzle and a lower portion of the cover provided on the collective nozzle.

  The present invention provides a collective nozzle for sucking / discharging a liquid having a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled, wherein the plurality of nozzles are fixed by a fixing portion, and the plurality of nozzles protrude from a lower end of the fixing portion. The upper portions of the plurality of nozzles protruding from the lower end are covered with a cover having an outer diameter smaller than that of the fixed portion so that the plurality of nozzles are not exposed and the gaps around the plurality of nozzles are reduced. It is characterized by being.

  The collective nozzle of the present invention can prevent a phenomenon in which the liquid handled by the nozzles travels along the gaps between the plurality of nozzles or the groove portions between the nozzles and rises on the outer surface of the nozzles.

  Further, the collective nozzle of the present invention can wash the lower part of the cover together with the plurality of nozzles exposed from the cover when cleaning the collective nozzle by spraying the nozzle cleaning liquid by the nozzle cleaning means. Accumulation of precipitates such as contained salts can be prevented. For this reason, it is possible to prevent contamination into the reaction container sucked / discharged by the collecting nozzle due to the falling of the precipitate, and contamination into the analyzer due to the falling of the precipitate during the movement of the collecting nozzle.

It is the figure which showed the one aspect | mode of the collective nozzle of this invention. It is the figure which showed the one aspect | mode of the conventional collection nozzle. It is the figure which showed the one aspect | mode of the collective nozzle and nozzle washing | cleaning means of this invention. It is the figure which showed the one aspect | mode of the conventional collection nozzle and the nozzle washing | cleaning means.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

  One embodiment of the collecting nozzle of the present invention is shown in FIG. The nozzle 100 in FIG. 1 is a collective nozzle in which a B / F (Bound / Free) cleaning liquid supply nozzle (discharge nozzle) 11 and a B / F cleaning liquid suction nozzle 12 are bundled. The collecting nozzle is fixed by a fixing portion 20a and protrudes downward from the lower end of the fixing portion 20a, but the portion corresponding to the upper part of the portion protruding downward from the lower end does not expose the collecting nozzle, And it is covered with the nozzle guide (cover) 30a so that the space | gap around the said collective nozzle may be reduced. The portion covered with the nozzle guide 30a can prevent accumulation of precipitates such as salts contained in the liquid handled by the collective nozzle.

  On the other hand, the conventional collective nozzle 110 shown in FIG. 2 does not correspond to the nozzle guide (cover) which is a feature of the collective nozzle of the present invention, and the B / F cleaning liquid supply nozzle (discharge) directly from the lower end of the nozzle fixing portion 20a. Nozzle) 11 and B / F cleaning liquid suction nozzle 12 protrude. When the cleaning liquid suction / discharge operation is performed using the collective nozzle shown in FIG. 2, the liquid handled by the collective nozzle reaches the lower end of the nozzle fixing portion through the outer surface between the two nozzles, and reaches the lower end of the nozzle. Deposits such as salts contained in the handled liquid may accumulate.

  One mode of the collective nozzle 200 of the present invention and nozzle cleaning means 400 for cleaning the collective nozzle is shown in FIG. The collective nozzle 200 is a collective nozzle in which the B / F cleaning liquid supply nozzle (discharge nozzle) 11, the B / F cleaning liquid suction nozzle 12, and the liquid supply nozzle 13 are bundled. The collecting nozzle is fixed by a fixing portion 20b and protrudes downward from the lower end of the fixing portion 20b, but the portion corresponding to the upper part of the portion protruding downward from the lower end does not expose the collecting nozzle, And it is covered with the nozzle guide (cover) 30b so that the space | gap around the said collective nozzle may be reduced. The collective nozzle 200 is connected to a moving arm 50 (means for moving the collective nozzle), and can move in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. When cleaning the collective nozzle 200, after moving the nozzle to a predetermined position on the nozzle cleaning tank 40 by the moving arm 50, the nozzle cleaning liquid is lowered to a position where it can be sprayed to the lower part of the nozzle guide 30b and the exposed part of the collective nozzle, Clean the nozzle.

  For comparison, FIG. 4 shows a conventional collecting nozzle 210 and a nozzle cleaning means 400 for cleaning the collecting nozzle. The collective nozzle 210 is the same as the collective nozzle 200 shown in FIG. 3 except that the nozzle guide 30b is not provided. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the liquid handled by the collecting nozzle rises along the outer surface of the nozzle, and deposits 60 such as salts accumulate up to the portion where the nozzle cleaning liquid cannot be injected. Become. On the other hand, the collective nozzle 200 of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 can prevent accumulation of precipitates and the like because the upper part of the collective nozzle protruding from the lower end of the fixed portion 20b is covered with the nozzle guide 30b. Furthermore, since the lower part of the nozzle guide 30b to which the liquid handled by the collecting nozzle may adhere can be cleaned by spraying the nozzle cleaning liquid by the nozzle cleaning means, there is no possibility that deposits or the like are accumulated.

100, 110, 200, 210: Collective nozzle 400: Nozzle cleaning means 11: B / F cleaning liquid supply nozzle 12: B / F cleaning liquid suction nozzle 13: Liquid supply nozzle 20a, 20b: Nozzle fixing portion 30a, 30b: Nozzle guide 40 : Nozzle cleaning tank 41: Nozzle cleaning liquid supply port 42: Nozzle cleaning liquid discharge port 50: Moving arm 60: Precipitate

Claims (5)

A collective nozzle for sucking / discharging a liquid having a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are bundled,
The plurality of nozzles are fixed by a fixing portion,
The plurality of nozzles protrude from a lower end of the fixed portion,
The upper portions of the plurality of nozzles protruding from the lower end are covered with a cover having an outer diameter smaller than that of the fixed portion so that the plurality of nozzles are not exposed and a gap around the plurality of nozzles is reduced. The collective nozzle. The collective nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of nozzles are nozzles including at least one or more nozzles for discharging liquid and one or more nozzles for sucking liquid. The collecting nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the collecting nozzle is movable in a vertical direction by means for moving the collecting nozzle. The collective nozzle according to claim 3, further movable in a horizontal direction by means for moving the collective nozzle. A method for cleaning the collective nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 4 by spraying a nozzle cleaning liquid by a nozzle cleaning means,
The said cleaning method which makes the injection position of the said nozzle washing | cleaning liquid the part exposed from the cover among several nozzles which a collection nozzle has, and the lower part of the cover provided in the collection nozzle.

Images