JPH0121455B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a reaction vessel for chemical analysis, and particularly to a cuvette for chemical analysis in which reaction and photometry are carried out in the same vessel.

Various types of automatic analyzers have been proposed and put into practical use; however, samples such as serum and reagents are placed in a reaction container in the reaction line and reacted, and the absorbance of the test solution is measured photoelectrically for quantification. There is something to analyze. In such devices, there are two methods: one is to measure the light while the test solution is in the reaction container, and the other is to measure the light by guiding the test solution from the reaction container to the flow cell. is excellent. Furthermore, there are two methods: one is to repeatedly use the reaction vessels that are moved along the reaction line, and the other is to sequentially send new reaction vessels to the reaction line. The former method requires a mechanism for cleaning and drying the reaction vessel, which has the disadvantage that the apparatus is large and expensive. It also has the disadvantage that a large amount of washing water is required and waste liquid treatment is troublesome. If this cleaning is not sufficient, contamination with the previous liquid may occur, which also has the disadvantage of deteriorating measurement accuracy. Furthermore, the reactor gets scratched during repeated use, which also causes poor photometry accuracy. On the other hand, in the latter method, the reaction vessels are disposable, so there are no disadvantages of the above-mentioned repeated use method, but if a method is adopted in which the reaction vessels are sent into the reaction line one after another, handling may be troublesome. It was hot. In particular, if the reaction container was held in the hand, it would leave fingerprints, which would impair photometric accuracy.

In any of the above methods, in order to perform accurate analysis, extreme care must be taken in handling the reaction vessel to prevent it from becoming dirty or damaged.

Conventionally, there are test tube and box-shaped cubes used for this type of photometry, but in both cases, the entrance and exit windows for the photometric light beam are directly exposed to the outside, so they are easily soiled and scratched. It was hot. In addition, stray light from the surroundings easily enters, which also has the disadvantage of reducing photometric accuracy.

Additionally, in chemical analysis, it is desirable to minimize the amount of test liquid stored in the cuvette, but since conventional cuvettes have flat bottoms, photometric accuracy decreases when the amount of test liquid is reduced. Because of this, I had no choice but to increase the amount of test liquid. For this reason, there are disadvantages in that a large amount of samples and reagents are required, and disposal of the test liquid is also troublesome.

Furthermore, when loading a cuvette into the cuvette holder of an analyzer, conventional cuvettes often have a flange formed on the upper edge and are held by abutting the edge of an opening in the cuvette holder. There is. If a flange-equipped cuvette is used in this way, it becomes troublesome to store and store it, and if, for example, a large number of cuvettes are stored in a cassette and the cuvettes are to be ejected one by one from the cassette and supplied to the cuvette holder, the flange This makes it difficult to store the cuvette in the cassette.
In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to form a notch in the cuvette holder instead of providing a flange on the cuvette, and to hold the cuvette by fitting it into the notch. Strict conditions are imposed on dimensional accuracy,
It has the drawback of being troublesome to manufacture and expensive.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the various drawbacks mentioned above,
It does not scratch or leave fingerprints on the entrance and exit windows for the photometric light flux, and it also prevents stray light from entering from around the cuvette, allowing accurate photometry and reducing the amount of sample to be detected. The object of the present invention is to provide a chemical analysis cuvette that can perform photometry with high precision even with liquid, does not impose strict conditions on dimensional accuracy, and can be easily and inexpensively manufactured. The present invention relates to a cuvette that accommodates a test liquid to be photometrically measured in chemical analysis and is elastically fitted and held in a notch of a cuvette holder provided in an analyzer, the cuvette having a rectangular opening formed in the upper part; There are four side walls provided from the rectangular opening to the bottom, a transparent entrance wall and an output wall that are formed at the bottom of the two side walls perpendicularly opposite to the photometric optical axis, and are recessed from the surroundings. A bottom part having an inner bottom surface formed in a semi-cylindrical shape having a central axis in the optical axis direction, and a protrusion provided on the outer surface of a part of the side wall excluding the side wall forming the input wall and the output wall. It is characterized by the ability to grow.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows the configuration of a conventional analyzer in which the reaction vessel is disposable. In this example, the reaction vessel is a test tube 1, and a large number of test tubes are stored in a loader 2. Test tube 1 is attached to the lower end of loader 2.
A 90° rolling mechanism is provided so that the test tubes 1 with their bottoms facing downward can be dropped one by one from the tube 2a. A reaction line extends below the cylinder 2a, and in this example, a chain connecting a large number of holders 3 is transferred to the right at a predetermined pitch. First, a predetermined amount of sample is injected into the test tube 1 dropped into the holder 3 through the sample nozzle 4, and then a predetermined amount of reagent is injected through the reagent nozzle 5. These liquids react within the test tube 1 while reaching the photometric position. Here, the light from the light source lamp 6 is focused by the lens 7,
The light is made to enter the test tube 1 through the opening 3a formed in the holder 3, and the light that has passed through the test liquid is made to exit through the opening (not shown) made in the holder 3, and is made to enter the detector 9 through the optical filter 8. , measure the absorbance of the test solution. After photometry, the test tube 1 is ejected from the holder 3 at the disposal position and falls downward. In this way, it is possible to sequentially supply new test tubes 1 to the reaction line and perform analysis on successive samples.

In such an automatic analyzer, loading the test tubes 1 into the test tube loader 2 is troublesome, and the test tubes are prone to fingerprints and scratches, which impair photometric accuracy. Furthermore, the test tubes 1 rub against each other inside the loader 2, so there is a risk of scratches. Furthermore, there is a drawback that the test tubes 1 become clogged in the loader 2 and cannot be reliably supplied one by one to the reaction line.

Furthermore, in analyzers that use reaction vessels repeatedly, it is necessary to dry them after thorough cleaning to eliminate contamination between mutual liquids; There is a risk that it may stick.

The present invention eliminates or alleviates the various drawbacks of the conventional technology described above, and allows the photometry section to be prevented from becoming dirty or scratched not only during transportation and loading operations, but also during cleaning and drying, thereby ensuring accurate accuracy. The object of the present invention is to provide a cuvette capable of photometry. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of an example of the cuvette of the present invention, Fig. 3a is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the - line, and Fig. 3b is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the - line. It is. In this example, the cuvette 21 is a molded article made of transparent synthetic resin, and has a flat box shape as a whole, with an opening 21a formed in the upper part. A T-shaped condition 21c is formed on one main surface 21b.
are integrally formed, and as described later, this protrusion 21c
The cuvette 21 is held in the cuvette holder by utilizing the elastic restoring force of the cuvette 21. cuybet 2
Side walls 21d and 21e of No. 1 are arranged perpendicularly to the photometric optical axis, and the lower portions of these side walls are slightly recessed to form an entrance window 21f and an exit window 21g.
Since the entrance window and the exit window are recessed from the side wall in this way, it is not possible to soil or damage these parts with hands, and the incidence of stray light from the surroundings is also reduced. As clearly shown in FIG. 3b, the lower part of the cube 21 has a semi-cylindrical shape, so that photometry can be performed even with a small amount of test liquid.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of a photometric section using the cuvette 21 of the present invention. Light source lamp 2
The light from 2 is focused by the lens 23, and the light from the diaphragm 24 is
The light is then made incident on the entrance window 21f of the cubet 21. The light emitted from the exit window 21g is made to enter the detector 27 through the aperture 25 and the optical filter 26. The cuvette 21 is elastically fitted and held in a notch 28a formed in the periphery of the turntable 28.

FIG. 5 shows the interior of a magazine 30 in which a large number of the above-mentioned cuvettes 21 of the present invention are arranged and stored. Storing the cuvette 21 into the magazine is not done by the user, but the user can obtain the magazine in which the cuvette 21 is stored. Therefore, the risk of scratches or fingerprints on the cube 21 is further reduced. The magazine 30 can be made of a synthetic resin molded product or metal, and in this example, there are 10 magazines in the horizontal direction as shown by arrow A, and 10 pieces in the vertical direction as shown by arrow B perpendicular to the magazines. 100 cuvettes 21 are stored in an array. An outlet 31b having a width approximately equal to the thickness of the cuvette 21 is formed at one end of one side wall 31a of the magazine 30. The outlet 3 of the narrow front wall 31c is arranged so that the cuvette 21 is discharged from the outlet 31b in the correct posture.
A projecting piece 31c having elasticity in a portion adjacent to 1b
form. The magazine 30 further has an upper wall 31d.
Three grooves 31f extending from to the rear side wall 31e are formed. Furthermore, the cuvette array body and the rear side wall 31
A push plate 32 is interposed between the cuvettes 3 and e, and by moving this push plate 32 in the direction of arrow B, as will be described later, the cuvette array can be simultaneously moved in the direction of arrow B. Furthermore, a notch 31g is formed at the right end of the side wall 31a, and when loading the magazine 30 into the loader, the protrusion of the loader is formed in the notch 31g.
to prevent reverse insertion.

6 and 7 show the configuration of an example of a cuvette loader for sequentially loading cuvettes 21 stored in the magazine 30 described above into successive notches 28a of the cuvette holder 28, one by one. is a plan view, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view. The turntable 28 is indicated by arrow C in FIG.
It rotates counterclockwise at a predetermined pitch as shown in , and has a number of notches 28a on its periphery.
are formed at equal intervals.

The cube loader is equipped with a board 40, and as shown in FIG.
1 is fixed. A magazine receiver 42 is disposed within the magazine storage section 41 so as to be movable in the vertical direction.One end of a wire 44 that is stretched around a pulley 43 is fixed to the magazine receiver 42, and the other end of the wire is fixed to the wire 44 that is stretched over a pulley 43. It is fixed to a weight 46 which is movably arranged. The guide 45 supports the magazine receiver 42 via a linear bearing 47. Therefore, the magazine receiver 42 is always biased upward. As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of magazines 30 containing a large number of cuvettes 21 can be loaded into the magazine storage section 41.

A first opening 40a through which the magazine passes is formed in the substrate 40 above the magazine storage section 41. A pair of L-shaped levers 48 and 49 are provided on the upper surface of the substrate 40 so as to sandwich the first opening 40a and are rotatable about shafts 48a and 49a, respectively. These levers 48 and 49 are provided with ring-shaped stoppers 50 and 51 on shafts 50a and 51, respectively.
and 51a, and rollers 52 and 53 for rotating these levers are attached via shafts 52a and 53a, as will be described later. Furthermore, engaging protrusions 48b and 49b are formed at the free ends of these levers 48 and 49. Further, L-shaped pillars 54 and 55 are provided on the sides of the first opening 40a of the substrate 40, and stoppers 54a and 55a are attached to the tips of these pillars.

The substrate 40 is further formed with a second opening 40b through which the magazine passes. A pair of magazine receiving levers 56 and 57 are provided on the sides of the second opening 40b.
are provided to rotate about shafts 56a and 57a, respectively. Pins 56b and 57b are installed near the free ends of these levers 56 and 57, respectively, and these pins are engaged with the engaging protrusions 48b and 49b of the levers 48 and 49. The levers 56 and 57 are further connected to the pin 56c.
and 57c are implanted, and these pins are engaged with projections of push levers 58 and 59 which pivot about axes 58a and 59a extending parallel to the plane of FIG. These levers 48, 49,
A spring is attached to each of 56, 57, 58 and 59, and biased to the position shown by the solid line.
The push levers 58 and 59 rotate in a plane perpendicular to the plane shown in FIG. 6 when the levers 56 and 57 are displaced as shown by imaginary lines.

The substrate 40 has two guide shafts 60a extending above the first and second openings 40a and 40b.
and 60b are fixed via legs 61a and 61b. These pair of guide shafts 60a and 6
0b is provided with a first slider 62 slidably via a linear bearing, and this first slider 62
One end of the wire 63 is fixed to the slider, and the wire is passed around a pulley 64 attached to the leg 61a, a pulley 66 attached to the drive shaft of the motor 65, and a pulley 67 attached to the leg 61b, and the other end is attached to the slider. Fixed to 62. Therefore, by reversibly rotating the motor 65, the slider 62 can be reciprocated in the B direction along the guide shafts 60a and 60b. This movement is to move the magazine 30 located above the first opening 40a to the loading position above the second opening 40b and to send the cuvette 21 within the magazine 30 in the direction B. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, below the slider 62 there are three arms 62a that can enter into the groove 31f formed in the magazine 30.
Install.

Further, a pair of guide shafts 68a and 68b are attached to the substrate 40 via legs 69a and 69b, which extend along the side edge of the second opening 40b in a direction orthogonal to the guide shafts 60a and 60b. A second slider 70 is slidably provided on this guide shaft, one end of a wire 71 is fixed to this slider 70, and this wire 71 is attached to a leg portion 69.
It is stretched around a pulley 72 provided at a, a pulley 74 attached to a drive shaft of a motor 73, and a pulley 75 attached to a leg 69b, and the other end is fixed to a slider 70. Therefore, by rotating the motor 73 in the forward and reverse directions, the slider 70 can be moved in the direction A along the guide shafts 68a and 68b, thereby moving the cuvettes 21 one by one from the magazine 30 into the notch 28a of the cuvette holder 28. can be loaded into. For this purpose, a pin 70a is provided on the slider 70, a push pawl 70c is fixed to the tip of the pin 70a, a coil spring 70b is inserted into the pin 70a,
This pushing pawl 70b allows the endmost cuvette 2 to be
Make it possible to push the side wall of 1.

Since a coil spring 76 is inserted between the guide shaft 68b and the leg 69a and is slidable on the leg 69b, the guide shafts 68a and 68b are biased to the right in the plane of FIG. Ru. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the slider 70 has a guide shaft 68a.
is slidably inserted into the guide shaft 68b via a linear bearing, and a coil spring 77 is inserted into the guide shaft 68b.
and a hole 78 for frictional engagement. Therefore, the slider 70 and the guide shaft 68b are adapted to move together over a certain range.
An L-shaped rail receiver 79 is fixed to the other end of the guide shaft 68b, and a guide rail 80 having a recess with a width approximately equal to the thickness of the cuvette 21 is fixed to this rail receiver. This guide rail is guided by guide rollers 81a to 81d and reciprocates slightly in the A direction. Near the tip of the guide rail 80 is a presser spring 8 that presses down the cuvette at the tip.
Install 2.

Next, the operation of this example device will be explained. For convenience of explanation, there are several magazines 30 in the magazine storage section 41.
It is assumed that the magazine is loaded and the upper surface of the magazine at the uppermost position engages with stoppers 50 and 51 attached to the levers 48 and 49 at the solid line positions. Further, a magazine 30 is provided above the second opening 40b.
, and is supported by levers 56 and 57 located at the solid line position to prevent it from falling downward. That is, this magazine 30 is in the cuvette loading position, and the cuvettes 21 stored therein are sequentially loaded into the notches 2 of the cuvette holder 28.
It can be inserted into 8a. That is, by rotating the motor 73 in the normal direction, the wire 7
1 moves clockwise in FIG. 6, and the slider 70 moves in the A direction accordingly. At this time, the guide shaft 68b also moves in the A direction, and therefore the rail receiver 79 and the guide rail 80 also move in the A direction.
At this time, the cuvette row (the cuvette arranged horizontally at the top in FIG. 6) also moves in the direction A. Next, tighten the nut 6 on the right end of the guide shaft 68b.
When the guide shaft 68b comes into contact with the leg 69a, the guide shaft 68b no longer moves, and only the slider 70 moves in the A direction. As a result, the row of cuvettes is further pushed out in the direction A, and the cuvette at the left end comes off the guide rail 80 and is inserted into the notch 28a of the cuvette holder 28. As described above, since the elastic protrusion 21c is formed on the cuvette 21, the notch 2
8a. Next, when the motor 73 is reversed, both the slider 70 and the guide shaft 68b return in the direction opposite to A, and the rail receiver 79 is brought into contact with the leg portion 68b. During this time, the push pawl 70c of the slider 70 remains in contact with the cuvette. By repeating the above operations, successive cuvettes can be inserted into the notches 28a of the cuvette holder 28. When the insertion of the uppermost cuvette row is completed, rotate the motor 73 in the reverse direction,
Return the slider 70 to the right end position. Next, motor 65
is rotated forward by a predetermined amount, the wire 63 is rotated counterclockwise, and the slider 62 is moved in the B direction by a predetermined pitch (equal to the thickness of the cuvette). As a result, the cube in the magazine 31 is moved to the push plate 32.
is pushed by and moves upward in FIG.

After all the cuvettes 21 in the magazine 30 at the cuvette loading position are loaded into the notches 28a of the cuvette holder 28, the motor 65 is reversed and the slider 62 is moved in the opposite direction. At the end of this movement, slider 6
2 is the rollers 52 and 5 of the levers 48 and 49
3 and presses it, these levers rotate as shown by the imaginary lines. Due to this rotation, the rings 50 and 51 are removed from the magazine, and the uppermost magazine in the magazine storage section 41 becomes the weight 46.
It moves upward under the action of , and comes into contact with stoppers 54a and 55a. while arms 48 and 49
When the pin 5 rotates, the projecting pieces 48b and 49b and the pin 5
6b and 57b pivot the levers 56 and 57, and the empty magazine above the second opening 40b falls through this opening and is ejected from the loading position. To assist in this ejection operation, push levers 58 and 59 rotate in conjunction with the rotation of arms 56 and 57 to push the magazine downward.

Next, when the motor 65 is rotated in the normal direction, the slider 62 moves upward in FIG.
9, 56, 57, 58 and 59 return to the positions indicated by solid lines. In this way a new magazine can be transferred to the cuvette loading position.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and numerous modifications and changes are possible. For example, in the embodiments described above, the cube is shaped like a flat box, but other shapes may also be used.

According to the above-mentioned cuvette of the present invention, an entrance window and an exit window are formed at the bottom of the cuvette, which face perpendicularly to the optical axis through which the photometric light beam is transmitted, and are recessed into the surrounding wall. This eliminates the possibility of soiling or damaging the entrance window or the exit window with hands, and also prevents stray light from entering the cuvette from going around, thereby significantly improving photometry accuracy. Furthermore, since the entrance and exit windows are recessed, the cubes will not be damaged even if they come into contact with each other, making handling of the cubes extremely easy.

Furthermore, since the bottom part is shaped into a semi-cylindrical shape to match the cross-sectional shape of the photometric beam, the entire photometric beam can pass through the sample liquid by simply storing a small amount of the sample liquid, allowing highly accurate photometry. . Also,
By providing a protrusion on a part of the side wall, the cuvette is elastically fitted into the notch of the cuvette holder and held, allowing for slight dimensional errors. It can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional analyzer using a test tube reaction container, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an example of the cuvette of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 is a sectional view showing the photometric device for the cuvette shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a magazine containing a large number of cuvettes; Figure 6 shows one cube stored in the magazine.
A plan view showing the configuration of an example of an apparatus for supplying individual pieces,
FIG. 7 is a sectional view thereof as well. 21...Cube, 21a...Opening, 21b
...Main surface, 21c...Protrusions, 21d, 21e...
...Side wall, 21f...Entrance window, 21g...Output window,
22...Light source lamp, 23...Lens, 27...
Detector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A cuvette that accommodates a test liquid to be photometrically measured in chemical analysis and that is elastically fitted and held in a notch of a cuvette holder provided in an analyzer, which has a rectangular opening formed in the upper part and a cuvette that four side walls provided from the opening to the bottom; a transparent entrance wall and an output wall recessed from the surroundings at the bottom of the two side walls facing perpendicularly to the photometric optical axis; A bottom portion having an inner bottom surface formed in a semi-cylindrical shape having a central axis in the axial direction, and a protrusion provided on the outer surface of a part of the side wall excluding the side wall forming the entrance wall and the exit wall. A chemical analysis cube characterized by: