JP6935907B2 - Dispenser - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cap used in a clinical laboratory center, a pharmaceutical company, a hospital, etc., and a dispensing device.

In health examinations and the like, it is widely practiced to store a sample (blood) in a blood collection tube and use this sample for tests such as analysis and testing (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The unused blood collection tube is evacuated in advance, and the collected sample (collected blood) is often contained in the blood collection tube via an injection needle. Then, after performing the analysis or test, the sample in the blood collection tube is usually discarded.

When using a sample in such an examination, it is necessary to remove the film-shaped lid attached to the blood collection tube. On the other hand, when there is a possibility of performing a secondary test or a retest, it is necessary to store the sample in the blood collection tube. Therefore, when it is necessary to perform this preservation, the blood collection tube is manually rubber-plugged and preserved.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-247201

By the way, the time required for the work of peeling off the lid and the work of plugging the lid is significantly increased, especially when the number of samples (the number of blood collection tubes) is large.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cap and a dispensing device capable of represerving a sample in a blood collection tube after opening a cap and shortening the working time required for an examination.

In order to solve the above problems, the cap according to the present invention has a needle portion penetrating the rubber material arranged in the center of the lid portion of the blood collection tube, and extends from the periphery of the needle portion in the same direction as the needle portion. A ring-shaped blade portion that presses and cuts the film material that seals between the rubber material and the upper part of the blood collection tube, and a central portion of the lid separated from the lid portion by the cutting are from the needle portion. It is characterized by including a drop-out prevention portion for preventing the drop-off and a plug portion for detachably engaging with the blood collection tube to plug the blood collection tube.

Further, the dispensing device according to the present invention has a cap holding mechanism capable of detachably holding the cap according to claim 1 and at least movable in the vertical direction, and holding and releasing the holding of the blood collection tube. A switchable blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism is provided, and the cap holding mechanism abuts and presses the cap against the lid portion of the unopened blood collection tube to separate the central portion of the lid from the film material. That is, the blood collection tube to which the cap is attached is sandwiched by the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism, and the cap is held and pulled up by the cap holding mechanism to release the cap and open the cap. The cap is held by the cap holding mechanism by the release, and the cap holding mechanism can be reattached to the blood collection tube to close the cap.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cap and a dispensing device capable of represerving a sample in a blood collection tube after opening and shortening the working time required for the examination.

It is an overall perspective view of the dispensing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. (A) and (b) are a perspective view and a side sectional view of a blood collection tube, respectively. It is a perspective view of the cap which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the blood collection tube rack and the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism of the dispensing device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention (only one blood collection tube is drawn as an example). It is a perspective view which shows the blood collection tube rack and the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism of the dispensing device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention (only one blood collection tube is drawn as an example). It is a perspective view explaining the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism in the dispensing device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view explaining the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism of the dispensing device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention (only one blood collection tube is drawn as an example). (A) to (d) are schematic side sectional views for each step for explaining that the cap is attached to and detached from the blood collection tube by the cap holding mechanism of the dispensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention, respectively. (E) to (g) are schematic side sectional views for each step for explaining that the cap is attached to and detached from the blood collection tube by the cap holding mechanism of the dispensing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. A series of operations are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings (FIGS. 1 to 9). In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the dispensing device is appropriately referred to as an X direction in the left-right direction, a Y direction in the front-rear direction, and a Z direction in the up-down direction when the dispensing device is viewed from the front side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the dispensing device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present embodiment) uses the cap 12 (FIG. 3) according to the present embodiment to open the blood collection tube V. It is a device that closes the plug.

(cap)
As shown in FIGS. 3, 8 and 9, the cap 12 has a needle portion 14 extending from the center of the cap to the inside of the cap and a ring-shaped blade portion extending from the periphery of the needle portion 14 in the same direction as the needle portion 14. 16 and. The needle portion 14 is for penetrating the rubber material Vg arranged in the central portion Vc of the lid portion Vj of the blood collection tube V (see FIG. 2), and the blade portion 16 includes the rubber material Vg and the upper part of the blood collection tube. This is for pressing and cutting the film material Vf that seals between the spaces.

Further, the cap 12 has a dropout prevention portion 18 for preventing the lid central portion Vp (see FIG. 9) separated from the lid portion Vj by this cutting from falling off from the needle portion 14, and an outer peripheral portion of the upper portion of the blood collection tube V. It is provided with a plug portion 20 that is detachably engaged (attached) to the Ve and plugs the blood collection tube V.

Further, the cap 12 is provided with a held portion 22 on the outer peripheral side. The held portion 22 is provided with a recess 22d having a diameter smaller than that of the adjacent upper and lower sides, and has a structure of being held by the claw portion 58 of the cap holding mechanism 40 described later.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 8 and 9, in the present embodiment, the blade portion 16 has a saw blade shape, and the film material Vf is easily pressed by the blade portion 16 abutting against the film material Vf from above. It has a structure that can be cut into.

Further, in the present embodiment, as the dropout prevention portion 18, a stopper 24 is provided in the middle of the needle portion 14 to prevent the rubber material Vg from moving to the needle tip side. In the present embodiment, the needle portion 14 has a needle base portion 14b extending from the base end side and a needle tip portion 14t continuous with the tip end side of the needle base portion 14b. At the continuous position of both, the diameter of the needle tip portion 14t is made larger than the diameter of the needle base portion 14b to form a step 25, and the stopper 24 has the step 25 so that the rubber material Vg is formed. The movement from the needle base portion 14b to the needle tip portion 14t is restricted.

Further, the plug portion 20 has a short cylinder portion 20p extending in the same direction as the needle portion 14, and the short cylinder portion 20p serves as a protective wall for preventing scattering of the sample adhering to the back of the lid. At the same time, when the outer peripheral portion of the short cylinder portion 20p of the cap 12 is manually grasped, it also serves as a guard for preventing injuries from the blade portion 16 and the needle portion 14. Further, at the lower end portion of the short cylinder portion 20p, a thin-walled restricting portion 20r (see FIGS. 3, 8 and 9) is formed so as to project inward in a thin-walled manner. When the blood collection tube V is plugged, the thin-walled regulation portion 20r is located below the lower end Veb of the outer peripheral portion of the upper part of the blood collection tube V (see FIG. 9E), and the cap 12 is removed from the blood collection tube V. When the plug is pulled up and the stopper is removed, the thin-walled regulation portion 20r is wider than the lower end veb of the outer peripheral portion and is pulled up above the lower end veb of the outer peripheral portion.

(Dispensing device)
The dispensing device 10 includes an operation panel 28 and a table 30 on the front side. On this table 30, a cap rack 32 in which the cap 12 is arranged, a blood collection tube rack 34 in which the blood collection tube V is arranged, a tube rack 36 in which the tube TU is arranged, and each tube TU are dispensed. The chip rack 38 in which the chip TP used in the case is arranged can be arranged side by side. In the present embodiment, the blood collection tube rack 34 is arranged with a blood collection tube support portion 35 made of an elastic member (rubber material or the like) and supporting each blood collection tube V in the vertical direction.

The dispensing device 10 is opened with a cap holding mechanism 40 (cap head) that can detachably hold the cap 12 on the lower end side, a blood collecting blood collection holding mechanism 42 that can switch between holding and releasing the collecting blood collection tube V. A dispensing head 44 (sampling head) for sucking and dispensing the sample in the plugged blood collection tube V is provided.

(Cap holding mechanism)
As shown in FIG. 1, the dispensing device 10 extends in the Y direction and moves in the X direction, and is held by the moving portion 50 in the X direction and can move in the Y direction. A Z-direction moving portion 54 that is held by the Y-direction moving portion 52 and can move in the Z direction (vertical direction) is provided. The cap holding mechanism 40 is attached to the Z-direction moving portion 54.

The cap holding mechanism 40 has two claws 58 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) on the tip side, and can switch between holding and releasing the cap 12. Specifically, when holding, the distance between the two claws 58 (the distance between the claws) is widened, the cap holding mechanism 40 is lowered, and the claws 58 reach the same height position as the recess 22d, and this height is reached. By narrowing the claw portion spacing at the position, each claw portion 58 is brought into contact with the recess 22d of the cap 12 and held (or sandwiched). When releasing the holding, widen the claw spacing in the holding state.

(Vactainer pinching mechanism)
Further, in the present embodiment, the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism 42 (see FIGS. 1, 4 to 7) is arranged below the arrangement position of the blood collection tube rack 34.

The blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism 42 includes two sandwiching plates 60 that are supported by the blood collection tube rack 34 and sandwich the blood collection tubes V arranged in a row in the X direction. The lower portions of the holding plates 60 are respectively urged by tension coil springs 62 in a direction approaching each other. Rotating shaft holding members 64 are erected on both side sides of the two holding plates 60, and each holding plate 60 is rotated around the rotating shaft 66 by the rotating shaft holding member 64 at a slightly upper position. It is held as possible.

Then, the blood collection tube holding mechanism 42 moves the holding plate spacing adjusting mechanism 70 for switching between holding and releasing the holding blood collection V and the holding plate spacing adjusting mechanism 70 by adjusting the distance between the two holding plates 60. A holding plate elevating mechanism 72 for (moving up and down) and a holding plate elevating mechanism 74 for moving the holding plate elevating mechanism 72 back and forth (moving in the Y direction) are provided. The holding plate spacing adjusting mechanism 70 includes a holding opening / closing drive motor 71 as a drive source, the holding plate elevating mechanism 72 has a raising / lowering drive motor 73 as a drive source, and the holding plate forward / backward movement mechanism 74 has a front / rear drive motor 75 as a drive source. (See FIGS. 4 to 7).

As shown in FIG. 7, the holding plate spacing adjusting mechanism 70 is wound around the above-mentioned holding opening / closing drive motor 71, the holding opening / closing drive belt 80 wound around the holding opening / closing drive motor 71, and the holding drive belt 80. It is provided with a cam 82 that is hung. The holding plates 60 are in contact with each side of the cam 82 in the Y direction.

The cam 82 includes a disk portion 82d and two rollers 82r arranged at positions sandwiching the disk portion rotation center 82c on the outer peripheral portion of the disk portion 82d. When the height positions of the two rollers 82r are the same (when the positions in the Z direction are the same, that is, when they are lined up in the Y direction), the cam 82 comes into contact with the holding plates 60 on both sides in the Y direction, and the cam 82 When the Y-direction length is the maximum (see FIG. 7) and the roller 82r is positioned so that the Y-direction length of the cam 82 is the same as the diameter of the disk portion 82d, the Y-direction length of the cam 82 is the minimum. Become. That is, when the length of the cam 82 in the Y direction is long, the distance between the holding claws 60n forming the upper end of each holding plate 60 is narrowed so that the cam 82 can be held, and when the length of the cam 82 in the Y direction is small, each holding claw 60n The interval between the two becomes wider and the pinch is released.

(Dispensing head)
Further, the dispensing device 10 includes an X-direction moving unit 90 extending in the Y direction and movable in the X direction, a Y-direction moving unit 92 held by the X-direction moving unit 90 and movable in the Y direction, and Y. A Z-direction moving portion 94 that is held by the directional moving portion 92 and can move in the Z direction (vertical direction) is provided. The dispensing head 44 is attached to the Z-direction moving portion 94, and the tip TP is attached to perform sample suction and dispensing.

(Action, effect)
In the present embodiment, the cap rack 32 in which the unused cap 12 is arranged, the blood collection tube rack 34 in which the sample-contained blood collection tube V is arranged, and the unused tube TU are arranged on the table 30 of the dispensing device 10. The tube rack 36 in which the unused chips TP are arranged and the chip rack 38 in which the unused chip TPs are arranged are arranged side by side. Then, the following operations of steps 1 to 8 are repeatedly performed by the control unit (not shown) of the dispensing device 10.

First, the dispensing head 44 (sampling head) moves onto the chip rack 38 to mount the chip TP (step 1).

Next, the cap holding mechanism 40 (cap head) moves onto the cap rack 32 to hold the cap 12 (step 2. See FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b)).

Further, both holding plates 60 are raised, and the collecting blood vessel V is sandwiched between the both holding claws 60n via the blood collection tube support portion 35 (step 3).

Then, the cap holding mechanism 40 moves to the blood collection tube V (see FIG. 8 (c)) to open the blood collection tube V (step 4. See FIGS. 8 (d) and 9 (e) to 9 (g)). ).

Further, the dispensing head 44 moves to the opened blood collection tube V and descends to insert the tip TP into the blood collection tube V and suck the sample (step 5).

Subsequently, the dispensing head 44 moves to the dispensing destination (each tube held in the tube rack 36) and dispenses (step 6).

Then, the cap holding mechanism 40 moves and descends directly above the blood collection tube V opened in step 5, and closes the cap 12 by reattaching the holding cap 12 to the blood collection tube V (step 7).

Further, the dispensing head 44 moves to the chip disposal box 98 (see FIG. 1) and discards the used chip TP held (step 8). The blood collection tube to which the cap 12 is reattached is stored in a refrigerator or the like.

Here, the opening of the cap in step 4 will be described in a little more detail. In step 4, the tip of the needle portion 14 of the cap 12 is brought into contact with the center of the rubber material Vg of the lid portion Vj of the blood collection tube V by lowering the cap holding mechanism 40. Then, as the cap holding mechanism 40 continues to descend, the needle portion 14 penetrates the rubber material Vg, and the blade portion 16 penetrates the film material Vf of the lid portion Vj to move the lid central portion Vp from the lid portion Vj. It is cut and separated (step S5, see FIG. 9E). At that time, the cap 12 may be lowered to the mounting position, but it is not necessary to lower the cap 12 to the mounting position as long as the central portion Vp of the lid is separated from the lid portion Vj and is located above the step 25.

After that, when the cap holding mechanism 40 is raised, the cap 12 is separated from the blood collection tube V and is in an opened state (see FIGS. 9 (f) and 9 (g)).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the cap 12 has the needle portion 14, the blade portion 16, and the plug portion 20, and the lid central portion Vp separated by the blade portion 16 falls off from the needle portion 14. This is prevented by the dropout prevention unit 18. Therefore, the cap 12 can be realized in which the sample in the blood collection tube can be re-preserved after the cap is opened and the working time required for the examination can be shortened. Moreover, the cap 12 can be attached and detached not only once but also many times.

Then, as the dropout prevention portion 18, a stopper 24 for preventing the rubber material Vg from moving toward the needle tip side is provided, and the diameter of the needle tip portion 14t is made larger than the diameter of the needle base portion 14b. This movement is prevented by having the step 25. Therefore, the fall prevention unit 18 (stopper 24) having a simple structure can be used.
Is.

Further, by using the cap 12, it is not necessary to manually remove the lid when opening the blood collection tube V, so that it is possible to prevent sample scattering and contamination to the surroundings at the time of opening, and to prevent contamination. A useful effect can be obtained.

Further, the blade portion 16 has a saw-tooth shape, and the blade portion 16 is in contact with the film material Vf from above and pressed against the film material Vf so that the film material Vf can be easily cut.

Further, the dispensing device 10 includes a cap holding mechanism 40 and a blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism 42. Then, the dispensing device 10 separates the lid central portion Vp from the film material Vf of the collecting vessel V by pressing the cap 12 against the lid portion Vj of the unopened collecting vessel V by the cap holding mechanism 40. be able to. Then, the blood collection tube V to which the cap 12 is attached is sandwiched by the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism 42, and the cap 12 is pulled up by the cap holding mechanism 40, so that the cap 12 can be released from the attachment and opened. Further, after the dispensing work or the like is completed, the cap 12 held by the cap holding mechanism 40 by this release can be closed by the cap holding mechanism 40 reattaching to the blood collection tube V. Therefore, the cap 12 of the blood collection tube V can be easily removed (easily dismounted) by the cap holding mechanism 40 in a short time, and the sample of the blood collection tube V can be easily represerved and dispensed. The work can be carried out efficiently and in a short time.

Further, the dispensing device 10 includes a blood collection tube rack 34, and the blood collection tube support portion 35 made of an elastic member is arranged in the blood collection tube rack 34. Therefore, it is effectively avoided that an excessive pinching force is applied to the blood collection tube V when the blood collection tube is pinched by the blood collection tube pinching mechanism 42.

In the present embodiment, the cap holding mechanism 40 and the dispensing head 44 move in the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction, but the cap holding mechanism 40 and the dispensing head 44 move in the Z direction. It is also possible to configure the table 30 to move in the X direction and the Y direction.

Further, in particular, by increasing the distance (length in the vertical direction) between the blade portion 16, the needle portion 14, the thin wall regulating portion 20r, and the plug portion 20, the cap rack on the device side can be set by manually setting the cap on the blood collection tube. It becomes unnecessary and can be a space-saving device.

Further, the dimensions of each cap portion (needle portion 14, blade portion 16, plug portion 20, etc.), the position of the step 25, and the like can be appropriately changed according to the dimensions of each portion of the blood collection tube.

Further, by making the material of the cap 12 sterilized, the cap 12 can be reused by performing high-temperature steam sterilization after use.

Although the embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are examples for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and specify the material, shape, structure, arrangement, etc. of the component parts to the above embodiments. Instead, it can be changed and implemented within the range that does not deviate from the gist.

10 Dispensing device 12 Cap 14 Needle 16 Blade 18 Falling prevention 20 Plug 34 Vacutainer rack 35 Vacutainer support 40 Cap holding mechanism 42 Vacutainer pinching mechanism V Vacutainer Vj Lid Vc Center Vg Rubber material Vf Film material Vp central part of lid

Claims (1)

A needle portion penetrating the rubber material arranged in the center of the lid portion of the blood collection tube and a needle portion extending from the periphery of the needle portion in the same direction as the needle portion and sealing between the rubber material and the upper part of the blood collection tube. A ring-shaped blade portion that presses and cuts the film material, a dropout prevention portion that prevents the central portion of the lid separated from the lid portion by the cutting from falling off from the needle portion, and the blood collection tube. It is provided with a cap having a plug portion that is detachably engaged to plug the blood collection tube.
It is provided with a cap holding mechanism that allows the cap to be detachably held and at least movable in the vertical direction, and a blood collection tube holding mechanism that can switch between holding and releasing the blood collection tube.
The cap holding mechanism abuts and presses the cap against the lid of the unopened blood collection tube to separate the central portion of the lid from the film material.
The cap is disengaged and opened by sandwiching the blood collection tube to which the cap is attached by the blood collection tube sandwiching mechanism and holding and pulling up the cap by the cap holding mechanism.
Then, the cap holding mechanism is reattached to the blood collection tube to close the cap held by the cap holding mechanism by the release.
Is enabled,
Further provided with a blood collection tube rack for arranging and holding the blood collection tube,
Wherein the blood collection tube rack is dispensed to the site to be clamped by at least the blood collection tube clamping mechanism with supporting toward each blood collection tube in the vertical direction, characterized in that the blood collection tube support portion made of an elastic member is arranged Device.

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