JPH0211297B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for mixing and dispensing liquids, and more specifically, to a method for mixing and dispensing liquids, in which a desired amount of a plurality of liquids is accurately sampled and a mixture of these liquids is delivered. .

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, accurately collecting predetermined amounts of various liquids, mixing them, and dispensing them (mixing, dispensing) has been important in various fields as the basis of various operations.

For example, in the field of analysis, mixing and dispensing operations are essential when performing manual analysis, and the same operations in normal analysis require many steps and are prone to errors. Therefore, in the case of manual analysis, errors caused by the mixing and dispensing operations are likely to occur in the measured values obtained. Further, in an automatic analyzer, it is essential to automatically perform mixing of samples, reagents, etc., dispensing operations, reaction operations, transfer operations to the detection section, etc. For example, in order to mix a sample and two types of reagents in predetermined amounts and send them to the detector, three pumps are used to send predetermined amounts of each sample and reagent to a mixing tank.
After mixing these in a mixing tank, it is common to use another pump to send the mixed sample and reagent to the detection section. In this case, there are four pumps,
A mixing tank and a control unit for controlling these are required, making the configuration complicated. Since automatic analyzers require a large number of component units, errors in mixing and dispensing often become a problem, and errors due to various complicated operations such as reaction and transfer to the detection section, etc. Therefore, it is strongly desired to perform mixing and dispensing accurately and to simplify the constituent units.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and by using a special mixing and dispensing device and providing it with many functions, it minimizes the factors that reduce accuracy and minimizes the number of component parts. stability of operation,
The purpose is to provide a mixing and dispensing method with improved maintainability.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The drawings show an example of a mixing and dispensing device used in carrying out the method of the present invention, and 1 in FIG. 1 is a cylinder. At the predetermined height of the side wall of the cylinder 1,
As shown in FIG. 2, the first to third suction portions 2a to 3 are spaced apart from each other by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction and into which liquid sequentially flows.
c and a discharge section 3 are formed. Said 1st to 3rd
One end of the first to third reagent introduction tubes 4a to c is connected to the suction parts 2a to 2c, respectively, and the other end is connected to the first to third reagents 6a in the first to third reagent tanks 5a to c.
It is immersed in ~c. Similarly, one end of a delivery pipe 7 is connected to the discharge part 3, and the other end is inserted into a receiver 8.

A lower portion of a cylindrical plunger 9 is inserted into the cylinder 1 in a fluid-tight manner and is slidable and rotatable. On the lower side of this plunger 9, a notched groove 10 is formed in a part of the surface thereof and reaches from a predetermined height to the lower end surface.
In addition, a plurality of tooth grooves are formed in the middle portion of the plunger 9 over the entire circumference along the circumferential direction, forming a round rack 11.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a pulse motor whose rotating direction and angle of rotation are controlled by pulse signals sent from a control unit 13. A pinion 14 attached to the rotating shaft of this motor 12 meshes with the round rack 11. , the rotational motion of the motor 12 is converted into linear motion and transmitted to the plunger 9, but in this case, the tooth grooves of the rack are formed over the entire circumference, so
Even when the plunger 9 rotates around its axis, the engaged state is always maintained.

A plunger rotation pulse motor 15 whose rotation direction and rotation angle are controlled by pulses sent from the control section 13 is disposed above the plunger 9, and the rotation shaft of this motor 15 is connected to the plunger 9. , which causes the plunger 9 to rotate around its axis. In this case, the plunger 9 rotates together with the rotation shaft of the motor 15 and is connected to the rotation shaft of the motor 15 so as to be able to slide along the axial direction, so that when the motor 15 is operated, The plunger 9 rotates without moving up and down, and when the motor 12 is activated, the plunger 9 moves up and down without rotating. In addition, when moving the plunger 9 up and down, the motor 15 may be configured to move up and down together with the plunger 9.

Next, using the above-mentioned mixing and dispensing device, reagent tanks 5a to
When the reagents 6a to 6c in c are inhaled in predetermined amounts, mixed, and then sent into the receiver 8, or when performing a dispensing operation, the plunger 9 is inserted into the cylinder 1 as far as it will go, and the cylinder First, with the lower end surface of the plunger 9 in contact with the bottom wall of the control section 1,
3, the amount of each reagent 6a-c to be inhaled from the first to third reagent tanks 5a-c is set. Next, when the operation start switch of the control unit 13 is turned on,
From the control unit 13 to the plunger rotation pulse motor 1
5, the motor 15 is actuated and the plunger 9 is rotated. When the notch groove 10 of the plunger 9 is in a position facing the first suction part 2a, the rotation of the motor 15 and therefore the plunger 9 is stopped. do. Then, the control unit 13 sends a pulse to the motor 12, the motor 12 operates, and the plunger 9
is raised a predetermined distance, whereby a predetermined amount of the first reagent 6a in the first reagent tank 5a sequentially passes through the first reagent introduction pipe 4a, the first suction part 2a, and the notched groove 10, and is accurately deposited into the cylinder 1. is inhaled. after that,
The motor 1 is controlled by the pulses sent from the control unit 13.
5 is activated, thereby causing the plunger 9 to rotate 90 degrees around its axis, and the notch groove 10 of the plunger 9 to face the second suction portion 2b. Next, the pulse motor 12 is actuated by a pulse sent from the control unit 13 to raise the plunger 9 a predetermined distance, whereby a predetermined amount of the second reagent 6b in the second reagent tank 5b is pumped into the cylinder in the same manner as above. Due to the inflow kinetic energy and diffusion phenomenon of the second reagent at the time of inhalation, the first reagent in the cylinder 1 and the newly inhaled second reagent naturally separate.
The reagents are mixed and homogenized. Furthermore, in the same manner, a predetermined amount of the third reagent 6c in the third reagent tank 5c is accurately sucked into the cylinder 1 and mixed. After predetermined amounts of the first to third reagents are inhaled and mixed in this manner, the mixed liquid of these reagents is discharged.
That is, first, by the pulse sent out by the control section 13,
The motor 15 is activated to rotate the plunger 9 90 degrees around its axis, and the notched groove 10 of the plunger 9 is rotated 90 degrees around its axis.
is made to face the discharge part 3, and then in this state, the motor 12 is operated and the plunger 9 is lowered, whereby the uniform mixture of the first to third reagents in the cylinder 1 is transferred to the notch groove 10, the discharge part 3, and the discharge part. It passes sequentially through a tube 7 and is dispensed into a receiver 8. When the lower end surface of the plunger 9 comes into contact with the bottom wall of the cylinder 1, the discharge of the mixed liquid is completed, the motor 12 stops, and the motor 15 operates to rotate the plunger 9 by 90 degrees around the axis. As a result, the notch groove 10 returns to its initial state and faces the first suction portion. Thereafter, the above mixing and dispensing operations are repeated in the same manner.

In this example, when mixing and dispensing predetermined amounts of each of the first to third reagents, a mixing dispenser having first to third suction parts is used, so multiple units are used unlike the conventional method. mixing carried out using a pump,
Compared to the dispensing method, there are fewer constituent units, so the stability of operation accuracy and maintainability are good, and the manufacturing cost of the device is also low. The mixing and dispensing device described above has multifunctionality for mixing, dispensing, etc., and therefore can reduce the number of constituent units and minimize the factors that degrade operational accuracy.

In addition, since a pulse motor is used for the vertical movement of the plunger of the mixing and dispensing device, it is easy to control the moving distance of the plunger, and therefore the amount of suction of each reagent and the amount of discharge of the mixed liquid of each reagent can be controlled. It is extremely accurate, and when using this mixing and dispensing device in an automatic analyzer to mix and dispense samples, reagents, etc., it is necessary to ensure that the repeated mixing and dispensing operations during analysis operations are accurate. Therefore, the improvement in analysis accuracy is remarkable, and by using the mixing action, a predetermined amount of sample and reagent are sucked into the cylinder, mixed, the sample and reagent are reacted, and the reaction occurs after a predetermined period of time. When the reaction is completed, the reaction solution can be sent to a detector and the concentration of the reaction product can be measured using a single device.

In addition, in this embodiment, the suction parts 2a to 2c and the discharge part 3 are formed in the cylinder 1 so as to be spaced apart by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction of the cylinder, but the invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to further provide heating and cooling means etc. to the cylinder 1.
It may also be possible to promote the reaction of reagents etc. inhaled into the body, and the field of application is not limited to analysis.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a cylinder having a discharge part and a plurality of liquid suction parts formed on the side wall, and a plunger having a notched groove reaching the lower end face on a part of the surface thereof, so that the lower side of the plunger can be liquid-tight and slidable. The plunger is intermittently rotated around its axis, and each time the notched groove faces the liquid suction part, the plunger is raised a predetermined distance, and the liquid is drawn into the cylinder from the suction part facing the notched groove. Then, the plunger is rotated around its axis so that the notched groove faces the discharge part, and in this state, the plunger is lowered to discharge the mixed liquid of the suctioned liquid in the cylinder from the discharge part. Therefore, the mixing and dispensing mechanism is extremely simplified and the dispensing accuracy is improved. Furthermore, this method has the advantage that it is possible to perform mixing, reaction, and dispensing in addition to simple mixing and dispensing, and its application range is wide.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view showing an example of a mixing/dispensing device used in carrying out the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the same example taken along the - line. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cylinder, 2a-c... 1st-3rd inhalation part, 3... Discharge part, 6a-c... 1st-3rd reagent,
9... Plunger, 10... Notch groove.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Insert the lower side of a plunger, which has a notched groove reaching the lower end surface on a part of its surface, into a cylinder with a discharge part and a plurality of liquid suction parts formed on the side wall in a fluid-tight and slidable manner, and insert the plunger intermittently. Each time the plunger is rotated around its axis so that the notched groove faces the liquid suction part, the plunger is raised a predetermined distance to draw liquid into the cylinder from the suction part facing the notched groove, and then the plunger is raised. A mixing and dispensing method characterized by rotating the plunger around its axis so that the notched groove faces the discharge part, and in this state lowering the plunger to discharge the mixture of the suction liquid in the cylinder from the discharge part. .