JPH03133375A - Applicator of inoculation solution to surface of agar medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the title device capable of automatically applying an inoculation solution in uniform thickness to the surface of agar medium without using a hand by constituting the device in such a way that an inoculation solution dripped to an agar medium is intermittently brought into contact with a film softly while rotating a laboratory dish and diffusing and applying the inoculation solution in the peripheral direction and radius direction. CONSTITUTION:A film 8 wound around a bottom face of an air mat 13 is softly brought into contact with the surface of an agar medium A. Then, in this state, a given amount of an inoculation solution is dripped to a fixed position B on the surface of the medium A in a laboratory dish 2 and the laboratory dish 2 is rotated by revolution of a rotary driving roller 3 in the arrow direction. Then, by the revolution of the medium A, the film 8 supported by the mat 13 is slid along the surface of the medium A in the peripheral direction. Consequently, the inoculation solution is uniformly diffused from an inner end part of the mat 13 close to a center O of the medium A in the peripheral direction with revolution, spread along a contact face of the film 8 toward the outside in the radius direction by the dripping position B and slant arrangement of the mat 13 and uniformly applied in the same thickness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying an inoculum to the surface of an agar medium, and more specifically, in cultivating aerobic bacteria, etc., the present invention automatically and uniformly spreads an inoculum consisting of a bacterial solution onto the surface of an agar medium. It relates to a coating device.

Conventional technology Conventionally, when applying an inoculum to the surface of this type of agar medium,
It is done manually. That is, an inoculum solution is dropped onto the surface of an agar medium provided in a petri dish, etc., and a glass rod l called a so-called sprayer is used as shown in FIG.
Using the gripping part 1a, use the sweeping part 1b bent from the gripping part 1a and extending in the orthogonal direction to sweep the surface of the agar medium onto which the inoculum has been dropped to spread and apply the inoculum. ing.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when the inoculum is manually spread onto the agar medium surface as described above, it is difficult to uniformly apply the inoculum onto the agar medium, and the surface of the agar medium is
The cleaning part is easily damaged by part tb. Therefore, there is a problem in that skill is required and time is required to apply the inoculum to a uniform thickness without damaging the surface of the agar medium.

Furthermore, when preparing a sample by applying a large amount of inoculum to the surface of an agar medium, it requires a lot of labor, which poses problems in terms of both cost and time. In addition, there were variations in the diffusion application, and the data was inaccurate when measured using a meter after culturing.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to automatically spread an inoculum onto the surface of an agar medium to a uniform thickness without any manual intervention, and without damaging the surface of the agar medium. The object of the present invention is to provide a coating device.

Means for Solving the Problems Accordingly, the present invention is an apparatus that automatically spreads and applies an inoculum dropped onto an agar medium in a petri dish onto the surface of the agar medium, the width of which is slightly larger than the radius of the petri dish. A means is provided for intermittently conveying a long, non-absorbent and flexible film in the longitudinal direction along a figure-7 (horizontal) guide path, and the film is conveyed at the lower end of the figure-7. The petri dish is brought into soft contact approximately in the radial direction with the surface of the agar medium, and a means for rotating the petri dish is provided so that the inoculum dropped onto the surface of the agar medium is surrounded by the film that slides into contact with the surface of the agar medium when the petri dish is rotated. The present invention provides an apparatus for applying an inoculum to the surface of an agar medium, characterized in that the inoculum is applied by spreading in both the direction and the radial direction.

More specifically, the means for intermittently conveying the film includes a frame supported by an elevating means, a film unwinding roll attached to one side and a film take-up roll attached to the other side, and a lower end of the frame. An air mat was attached to the plate so that the film was intermittently conveyed vertically along a horizontal V-shaped guide path, and the film was pressed onto the agar medium by the air mat whose internal pressure was freely adjustable. While making soft contact, the air mat is placed eccentrically with respect to the radial direction of the agar medium, and is set to a length that extends beyond the center point from the outer periphery, and the dropping position of the inoculum is placed at the center of the agar medium. The frame is set at the inner end of the air mat on the opposite side, and the frame is further equipped with a conveying means for a liquid-absorbing material such as towel paper, and the conveying means is used to wrap the inoculant after spreading and applying it. The film to be taken and the above-mentioned liquid-absorbing material are overlapped and wound up together with the film.

As mentioned above, the film for dispersing the inoculum is brought into soft contact with the surface of the agar medium with appropriate pressure, and the agar medium is rotated in this state, so the film that comes into sliding contact with the surface of the agar medium. The inoculum is spread and applied. Moreover, since the contact pressure of the film can be adjusted as appropriate depending on the hardness of the agar medium, the inoculum can be spread and applied to a uniform thickness without damaging the surface of the agar medium.

In addition, the film after the inoculum solution is spread and applied is automatically wiped off with towel paper, which prevents the inoculum adhering to the film from dripping onto the surface of a new agar medium. .

Miki carp Next, the present invention will be explained in detail based on examples.

In Fig. 1, ■ is an inoculum diffusion coating device, 2 is a circular petri dish filled with agar medium A, and the petri dish 2 is moved by three rotary drive rollers 3 arranged in contact with the side surface with arrows. rotated in the direction

The above-mentioned inoculation liquid diffusion coating device [is an inverted U-shaped frame 5
The upper end frame 5a is vertically connected to a rod 7 of an air cylinder 6 installed on a support stand (not shown) so that its angle can be adjusted, and is moved up and down according to the operation of the rod 7, so that the upper end frame 5a Melee and retreat.

The frame 5 includes an unwinding film support frame 5C that protrudes to one side from both side frames 5b, and a film 8 for spreading and applying the inoculum is wound in a coil shape between the tips of the film support frame 5C. A support shaft 9 of the film unwinding roll 8a is rotatably and detachably attached. Above film 8
is made of a sterilized polyethylene film, but is not limited to this polymer film, and any film that is non-liquid-absorbing and flexible may be used.

Roller support frames 10A and IOB are protruded from the lower end surfaces of both side frames 5b of the frame 5 at both left and right ends, respectively, and a pair of roller support frames that are protruded from the other side frame 5b are rotatable in the front and back direction. Film guide rollers IIA and IIB are attached. An air mat 13 is installed between these film guide rollers IIA and 11B, with both ends attached to support frames 12 protruding from the lower end surfaces of both side frames 5b. The lower end surface of the air mat 13 is positioned slightly below the film guide rollers IIA and IIB on both sides, and these rollers IIA and IIB and the air mat 13
It constitutes a letter-shaped film pressing section.

As shown in FIG. 3, the air mat 13 is a substantially cylindrical tare made of a flexible material, has an air intake port 13a on its upper surface, is connected to an air introduction pipe I4, and is connected to a pressure supply source (see FIG. (not shown) supplies air at the required pressure.

The film 8 unwound from the film unwinding roll 8a is moved by a guide roller IIA,
It is guided by IIB and pressed by the air mat 13 that protrudes downward between them, so as to come into soft contact with the surface of the agar medium A. Therefore, the pressure within the air mat 13 is controlled according to the surface hardness of the agar medium A, so that when the film 8 comes into contact with the agar medium A, the agar medium A is not damaged. The air mat 13
The internal pressure is controlled within the range of approximately 0.3-0.5 kg/m'', and if the agar medium is soft, the pressure is lowered, and if the agar medium is hard, the pressure is increased.

Further, the length of the air mat 13 is set to be slightly smaller than the width of the film 8 so that the air mat 13 is completely covered by the film 8 and does not come into direct contact with the agar medium A.

The relationship between the air mat 13 and the petri dish 2 (i.e., the circular agar medium A) is such that the length of the air mat 13 is set slightly longer than the radius of the agar medium A, as shown in FIG. In the example, the radius of agar medium A is 45m+++,
The length of the air mat 13 is 50 mm), and the air mat 13 is arranged so that its inner end 13a is slightly beyond the center O of the agar medium A than the outer periphery of the agar medium A. In addition, the air mat 13 is positioned so that it has a required inclination angle α from the outer circumference toward the center with respect to the radial direction of the Petri dish 2, and the main axis X in the length direction is aligned with the center O of the agar medium A. It is made to pass through a more eccentric position. The above-mentioned inclination angle α is set appropriately between approximately 5° and 30°, depending on the amount of the inoculation solution dropped, i.e., if the amount of inoculation solution is large, the inclination angle is made small, and if it is small, the inclination angle is made large. It's being adjusted.

The angle of the frame 5 to which the air mat 13 is attached is adjusted by rotating the air cylinder 6 on which the frame 5 is suspended.

In this example, the inclination angle α is I5°, and the distance a from the center O of the agar medium to the center line X of the air mat 13 is 10 mm.

With respect to the installation position of the air mat I3 described above, the dropping position of the inoculum onto the surface of the agar medium A is as shown by point B in FIG. It is located on the side of the inner end 13a and on the opposite side to the center 0 of the agar medium.

In addition, the length relationship between the above air pine) 13 and agar medium A,
The relationship between the positional relationship, the rotating direction of the petri dish, and the dropping position of the inoculum liquid is most preferably the above relationship, but is not necessarily limited to the above relationship. Any relationship may be used as long as the film 8 in contact with the air mat 13 has the effect of spreading the inoculum onto the surface of the agar medium A when the medium A is rotated.

A drive mechanism for unwinding the film 8 through the air mat 13 is attached to the frame 5 on the opposite side to the installation position of the film unwinding roll 8a. That is, the motor support frame 5 is mounted on the upper part of the frame side frames 5b.
d is provided protrudingly to attach the drive motor 14, and a take-up roll support frame 5e is provided below it protruding from both side frames 5b,
A rotating shaft 16 is attached to the support frame 5e. A pulley 17 is attached to the shaft end of the rotating shaft I6, and a belt is stretched between the pulley 18 attached to the output shaft 14a of the drive motor 14, and the rotating shaft 16 is driven by the motor I4.
is rotating intermittently.

A take-up roll 20 is attached to the rotation shaft 16 so as to rotate in conjunction with the rotation shaft 16 and to be detachably attached to the take-up roll 20 . Therefore, by the rotation of the take-up roll 20, the film 8 is intermittently conveyed in the vertical direction along the figure 7-shaped (horizontal direction) guide path from the film unwinding roll 8a to the take-up roll 20. There is.

Further, below the winding roll 20, support frames 5f are provided protruding from the frame side frames 5b, and these support frames 5f have the following features:
A winding roll 22a wrapped with water absorbent towel paper 22 is rotatably and detachably attached. The towel paper 22 unwound from the winding roll 22a is guided by guide rollers 2 and 1 rotatably supported by a support frame 5g protruding from the support frame 5r.
The film 8 is guided by the film 8, and is brought into contact with the film 8 after the inoculation solution has been spread and applied, and is wound together with the film 8 by the winding roll 20. Note that any suitable liquid-absorbing material may be used in place of the towel paper 22 as long as it contacts the film 8 to absorb the inoculating liquid and prevents the liquid from spilling onto the agar medium A.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned inoculation liquid diffusion coating device will be explained.

First, the Petri dish 2 filled with agar medium A is placed on the rotating roller 3.
Set it on a rotating means consisting of.

Next, the air cylinder 6 is operated to lower the frame 5 and bring the film 8 wrapped around the lower end surface of the air mat 13 into contact with the surface of the agar medium A. At this time, as described above, since the pressure within the air mat 13 is set to correspond to the hardness of the agar medium A, the film 8 is brought into soft contact with the surface of the agar medium A with an appropriate pressure. Furthermore, since the air mat 13 is made of a flexible material, the adhesion between the agar medium surface and the air mat z3 is high.

In the above state, a predetermined amount of the inoculum solution is placed at a fixed position B on the surface of the agar medium A in the Petri dish 2, that is, at the inner end 1 of the air mat 13.
Drop onto the side position of 3a.

After dropping the above-mentioned inoculation solution, the rotary drive roller 3 is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow to rotate the Petri dish 2 in the opposite direction. The number of rotations of this petri dish 2 is approximately 1 to 5 depending on the amount of inoculation liquid dropped.
It is set within the range of times.

That is, when the amount of liquid is large, one rotation is sufficient, and when the amount of liquid is small, it is necessary to rotate about 5 times, but usually it is about 3 times.

As the agar medium A is rotated as described above, the film 8 supported by the air mat 13 comes into sliding contact with the surface of the agar medium A in the circumferential direction. At this time, the inoculum is dropped on the side of the inner end of the air mat 13 at a position B eccentric from the center 0 of the agar medium A, and the film 8 is transferred to the agar medium A.
Since the agar medium A is rotated to the left (counterclockwise), the inoculum will move radially outward from the dripping position B. easily spread. Therefore, from the inner end of the air mat near the center 0 of the agar medium A, it is uniformly diffused in the circumferential direction according to the rotation, and due to the above-mentioned dropping position and the inclined arrangement of the air mat, the film 8 is brought into contact with the air mat. The inoculum is spread outward in the radial direction along the surface, and the inoculum is sequentially spread from the center to the outer periphery of the agar medium A, and is evenly applied to the same thickness.

At this time, as described above, transfer Air Mat I3 to agar medium A.
The inoculum is applied to the surface of the agar medium A with a uniform thickness because it is pressed with a high degree of adhesion and with a uniform force.

When the above-mentioned inoculation liquid is spread and applied, the air cylinder 6
The frame 5 is raised by driving the air mat 13 and the film 8 away from the agar medium A. Next, the drive motor 14 is driven for a predetermined period of time to wind up the film 8 of a certain length onto the take-up roll 20. Accordingly, the film 8 is moved to the guide roller 11A, the air mat 13, and the guide roller II.
Guided by B, the film advances in a V-shape, and a new film 8 is pulled out from the film unwinding roll 8a, and the film 8 located in the air mat 13 replaces the part to which the inoculant is not attached. When winding up the film 8,
The take-up roll 20 takes up the towel paper 22 together with the film 8 from the take-up roll 22a.

The film 8 and the towel paper 22 are overlapped at the guide roller 24 and wound onto the take-up roll 20. that time,
The inoculating liquid adhering to the film 8 is absorbed by the towel paper 22. Therefore, the inoculum drips onto the surface of agar medium A,
It can prevent contamination due to mixing with new inoculation solution.

Effects As is clear from the above explanation, the device for applying an inoculum to the agar medium surface according to the present invention automatically distributes the inoculum dropped onto the agar medium surface from the center to the outer periphery without human intervention. It can be diffused and applied. Furthermore, since the tip of the film that contacts the agar medium is pressed with an air mat and the internal pressure of the air mat can be controlled according to the hardness of the agar medium, it is possible to prevent damage to the agar medium during diffusion application. Moreover, by controlling the pressure of the air mat, it is possible to improve the adhesion between the film and the agar medium, and the inoculum can be applied with a uniform thickness. Furthermore, when winding up the film after spreading the inoculum,
Since the film is rolled up in contact with a liquid-absorbing material made of towel paper, etc., it has various advantages such as being able to prevent the inoculum adhering to the film from dripping onto a new agar medium. It is something.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for applying an inoculum to the surface of an agar medium according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the relationship between an air mat, a film, and an agar medium. FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing the positional relationship between the air mat and the petri dish, and FIG. 5 is a front view of a conventionally used sprayer. l...Inoculation liquid application device, 2...Soyale, 3...Rotating drive roller, 5...Frame, 6...Air cylinder, 8
...Film, 8a...Film unwinding roll, 11AS IIB...Guide roller, I3...Air mat, 14...Rotation drive motor, 20...Take-up roll, 22...
・Towel paper A: Agar medium, 0: Center, B: Dripping position.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device that automatically spreads and applies an inoculum dropped onto an agar medium in a petri dish onto the surface of the agar medium, the width of which is slightly longer than the radius of the petri dish and non-liquid absorbent. and a means for intermittently conveying the flexible film along the V-shaped guide path, so that the film is brought into soft contact with the surface of the agar medium approximately in the radial direction at the lower end of the V-shape. west,
Further, a means for rotating the petri dish is provided, and the inoculum dropped onto the surface of the agar medium is spread and applied in the circumferential direction and radial direction by the film that slides into contact with the surface of the agar medium when the petri dish is rotated. Characteristic device for applying inoculum to the surface of agar medium. 2. The means for intermittently conveying the film includes attaching a film unwinding roll to one side of a frame supported by an elevating means and attaching a take-up roll to the other side, and supplying air to the lower end of the frame. Attach the mat and move the film in the horizontal direction V with the air mat as the lower end.
The film is intermittently conveyed vertically along a letter-shaped guide path, and the air mat, whose internal pressure can be adjusted, presses the film to bring it into soft contact with the agar medium. The air mat is placed eccentrically with respect to the radial direction of the agar medium, and the length is set to extend beyond the center point from the outer periphery, and the dropping position of the inoculum is set to the inner end side of the air mat on the opposite side from the center of the agar medium. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is set to . 3. A conveyance means for absorbent material such as towel paper is attached to the above-mentioned frame, and the conveyance means superimposes the above-mentioned absorbent material on the film that is wound up after the inoculation solution has been diffused and applied, and transports the absorbent material together with the film. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is adapted to be wound up.